The Obligatory Asante Samuel Not Coming To Cincinnati Post

Despite the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles are asking for a late-round pick in exchange for cornerback Asante Samuel, the Cincinnati Bengals don't appear to be interested -- nor do we expect them to be. According to Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer, the Atlanta Falcons are currently in discussions with the Eagles to acquire Samuel. The one thing that may facilitate the trade easier, is the willingness for Samuel to reduce his expected $21.5 million over the next two seasons.

A further breakdown of Samuel's current contract, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN:

Samuel is to make $9.9 million in base salary this year, and also has a $100,000 workout bonus. His base salary in 2013 is $11.4 million, with a $100,000 workout bonus and escalators that could add as much as $2.5 million to the total value.

Now one could say: Hey, we have three fifth-round draft picks. Why not offer one fifth-rounder to the Eagles and have Samuel restructure his contract for a more cap-friendly one or two-year deal? Afterall, the team would be better with Samuel, right? Actually we think he would. Though we find it extremely hard to believe that Samuel would go from $21.5 million combined over the next two seasons to something that would be cap-friendly for the Bengals -- of which he might not even be a starter.

So it's not going to happen.

Even if the Bengals traded for Samuel, and despite the fact the Bengals could carry Samuel's existing contract with limited issue this year, it will generate a heavy impact against the team's expected extensions for their younger foundation pieces by this time next year, along with the money it would take to re-sign guys like Thomas Howard, Manny Lawson, Andre Smith, Pat Sims, a backup quarterback or multiple running backs (BGE only RB signed beyond 2012).

So it's not going to happen.

Additionally the cost at cornerback alone would be high. If we take Samuel's $11.4 million in 2013 and combine that with Leon Hall's base salary for the same year, that would combine for $17.9 million -- the cap number would be exponentially higher. Additionally the team is paying Nate Clements $4.3 million on the final season of a two-year contract. They signed Jason Allen to a two-year deal worth $8.2 million. Adam Jones (one-year, $975,000) and Terence Newman (one-year, $825,000) were also signed during the offseason, but that would have no impact for next year.

We get the argument for entering the Asante Samuel trade, but believe us when we say: It's not going to happen.