If the Pats are stupid enough not to lock him up with a contract, I say the Saints must go after this guy. I am convinced he is the best DB out there right now. Yes, better than Champ Bailey. Cuz he's doing his thing in the playoffs when it matters most.
As a huge Pats fan, I'm worried that they DON"T resign him. Asante will almost certainly demand big bucks (and rightfully so--guy had 12 INT's this season counting the playoffs, yet somehow gets left out of the Pro Bowl?!), and outside of Brady and Richard Seymor, the Pats have never offered/agreed to a FA's demand for huge contracts. Although, the guys that have left because of that practice were Willie McGinest, Adam Vinateri, Deon Branch and David Givens....and only Adam has continued his same level of play.
Wow, did you guys lose Givens and Branch in the same year? I didn't realize that if that's the case. The Pats are the Oakland A's of football, except they have championships to show for it. How in the hell is Samuel not in the Pro Bowl?
thats correct. randall gay was well on his way to being asante samuel before his rash of injuries. belichick last went to the superbowl with the entire secondary out the 2nd half of the season basically. not sure how he does it. but as good as samuel is id certainly love to get him on the saints. mckenzie could be ok for a couple years as the 2nd or nickel guy if they dont find anything better. a couple of really good corners would go a long way for this defense.
McKenzie is in the upper half of the DBs in this league easily. That's so far off base to imply he may be nothing better than a nickel back. That's not even close to being credible. He would be the #1 DB on about half the teams in this league. And on the other he would be a very solid #2 guy. I am still leary of spending a crapload of money on a DB coming off a hot season. One name, Tebucky Jones. And he was a Pat as well, no less (even though my original post sounds like we get him at all costs, I have to reconsider that). I say maybe you go 2nd tier, a young up and coming player like a Jordan Babineaux from Seattle and save yourself a lot of money. Bulk up your front 7. Win the game in the trenches. You can hide deficiencies in your secondary quite effectively that way. And having a combo of Babineaux and McKenzie wouldn't even be considered a weakness in the first place. Get a MLB, OLB and DT that are impact players to go with Smith, Grant and Fujita, and we'll be just fine. I say get a FS to replace Bullocks, but I think the Saints are gonna give it a go with Bullocks/Harper to see what we get out of them next season.
i think you forgot there are 2 mckenzies. the one who was a headcase that the pack wanted to rid themselves of that hasslet took. he was a cancer til payton somehow had him buy into the system. But my point was hes on the bad side of age 30 and for a cornerback you can expect 2 years max of quality play. As a 2nd cornerback. hes going to be 32 or 33 next year. same goes for hollis thomas. he was one of the better dts in the league this year and playing for a contract. you have to expect a dropoff for both. this is a young mans game much moreso than baseball or hoops. a 32 yr old mckenzie wont be able to stay with half the receivers in the league. only darrell green can do that.
Mike McKenzie is 30. You're 2 years too soon with that post. Sorry. He is still a legit cover corner in this league. He is signed through 2008. I think at that point the Saints would have to consider signing someone else, unless he is willing to sign for a lot less in a less demanding role for the team. So the next 2 years should be high quality ones for McKenzie with the Saints.
Yeah. Branch and Givens left before this season started. Givens signed a big contract with the Titans...and then spent most of the year injured. Branch held out in the final year of his rookie contract--big mistake because the Patriots front office wants character players to honor their contracts--and Branch would have gotten and increase but he went about it the wrong way (the Patriots actually made him an offer that would have tripled his salary, but Branch balked at it and wanted more) so they traded him. So Givens leaves the Pats and does nothing in his first season in Tenn. Branch leaves the Pats after being a Super Bowl MVP and is pretty much nothing more than a #3 in Seattle. Meanwhile, Charger cast off Reche Caldwell (until last night) had a great 2nd half of the season as well 2 solid playoff games. As for Samuel not going to the Pro Bowl, well, I don't think the Patriots had that "flashy" defense like the Ravens, or Chargers or Bears. They quietly broke their franchise record for least points allowed in a season (barely over 14 ppg). I know the Pro Bowl is "fan-friendly" in the voting process, but I'm sorry, there needs to be some sort of professional veto--or more correctly stated, some sort of professional addition of players like him.
I don't get why they don't have a special exemption type spot for a player obviously deserving that doesn't get voted in. One player on each team. Makes sense to me. Kinda like how baseball does with the all star game, although I would take this totally out of the fans hands and let the players strictly vote on it based on a half dozen players that were possibly deserving but left out and they have to choose one.
