Asante Samuel has been dogged by trade rumors for the past year. Every few weeks it has seemed like there has been a new rumor about the Eagles shopping him and this offseason has been no different. However, his reaction does appears to have changed. Last year, when he was asked about the rumors during training camp, he seemed downright upset.
This year? His response to the rumors have clearly softened.
Any time your name comes up, of course you're going to pay attention," Samuel told PhiladelphiaEagles.com. "It's my future. I'm not going to dwell on it or whatever, but I just know the Eagles' main focus is to win a Super Bowl and I think I'm an important part of that, so we'll see how it goes."
Last year, he backed off his comments after a meeting with Andy Reid where the coach told him that just because teams call and rumors get started, it doesn't mean they're going to trade him. You have to wonder that whether being dogged by trade rumors for over a year and not yet being traded has made Asante believe them a little bit less.
Asked if he still wants to be here, Asante was clear.
"Of course, I love it here. This is my home. I've never been to a place I love more than Philadelphia," Samuel said. "It's up to management. I want to be here. I've always voiced that opinion. It's up to them."
Asante also said he expects the secondary to perform a lot better this season given that they'll have a full offseason together. He admitted that last season, the new guys simply hadn't caught up by the time the season started.
"The more time you spend together the more you get to jell, the better things are," Samuel said. "We jumped right into training camp (last year). A lot of people didn't know a lot of things. We had two new corners. They had to catch on at a fast pace."