BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Philadelphia has become quite the attractive free-agent destination of late.
On Friday, Nnamdi Asomugha and the Eagles joined in on the party.
One day after acquiring Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from the Arizona Cardinals, the Eagles stunned the NFL world, and signed another Pro Bowl cornerback, Asomugha, to a five-year contract.
Very quietly, while other teams made headlines in their pursuit of Asomugha, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and president Joe Banner made a pitch to him that he simply could not refuse. Asomugha’s deal will pay him $60 million over the life of it, with $25 million guaranteed.
“Howie and Joe worked their tail off and put together this phenomenal plan,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “They came out of the gates like wild men and attacked the issue. Neither one of them has had much sleep. But they’ve rewarded our football team and the city of Philadelphia with some great players.”
Asomugha, considered the top free agent on the market, spent his first eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders. He had a career-high eight interceptions in 2006, went to the Pro Bowl after the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons and was named a first-team all-pro in 2008 and 2010.
Even though he has just three interceptions in the last three years, Asomugha is considered one of the top cover cornerbacks in the NFL, and was courted by several high-profile teams, including the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. New York seemed the likely destination because Asomugha has aspirations of acting when his playing days are over.
The Eagles now have three Pro Bowl cornerbacks on their roster: Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel, who has 42 interceptions in eight years and has made the Pro Bowl four straight years.
“It’s always been a priority position for us,” Roseman said. “Corners, pass rushers, and we felt like last year, we were in a situation where maybe we got a little short-handed, and we thought it was a place that we wanted to go heavy and have a lot of talent at. You can never have enough cover corners.”
The Eagles last year allowed a franchise-record 31 touchdown passes in the regular season, and three more in a 21-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers at home in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
“We have three good cornerbacks,” Reid said. “It reminds me a little bit of when we had (Pro Bowl cornerbacks) Al (Harris), Troy (Vincent) and Bobby Taylor.”
But while they certainly have one of the deepest defensive backfields in the league now, clearly one of the big three won’t be able to start for the Eagles. Perhaps it’s Samuel, who was excused from training camp at Lehigh University the last two days.
Roseman said Samuel’s absence has nothing to do with the stunning signing.
“That’s a personal excused absence that Asante’s dealing with,” he said.
The Eagles closed up shop by formally announcing a one-year deal with Vince Young, a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback who will replace Kevin Kolb as Michael Vick’s backup.
