Falcons complete trade for Samuel

NFL.com news: Eagles' Asante Samuel close to joining Atlanta Falcons

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CB Asante Samuel joins Atlanta Falcons

Asante Samuel agrees to three-year, $18.5 million deal as part of trade from Eagles to Falcons, Albert Breer reports.
A source close to the situation told NFL Network's Albert Breer that the Falcons were close to acquiring Samuel from the Eagles for a late-round pick.
The Falcons emerged as one of the team's interested in Samuel on Tuesday, a league source told NFL Network's Michael Lombardi, and quarterback Matt Ryan spoke glowingly of the cornerback.
"As far as Asante Samuel, I can only speak for having played against him a number of times and I know that's he's been extremely difficult to play against and has done a great job against us when we've played him in the past," Ryan said.
Samuel, 31, had three interceptions for the Eagles last season. He has made four Pro Bowls in his nine-year career, and was named a first-team All-Pro in 2007.

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Samuel is certainly talented and part of me wishes we would have been in the running, but aside from not being able to afford that contract, I think he is nearing the end of his career.

I don't think that Asante Samuel would be a good fit for our defensive scheme as he is more of a man-to-man scheme kind of guy while we're looking more for a zone corner. Basically, that fact and because of the reason that we couldn't sign Nnamdi Asomugha for both his contract asking price and his style of play dictated that we stay away from him.