Adam Schefter was getting peppered with questions from his Twitter followers about Nnamdi Asomugha and where he might end up. After shooting down the hopes of a Green Bay Packers fan, an Eagles fan piped up and asked if Asomugha could find his way to Philadelphia.

"More likely (than Green Bay)," Schefter said, "but (I) don't see it."

The restraints of Twitter didn't allow Schefter to elaborate, but I wish he would. Is this just a gut instinct or has he heard something to make him believe the Eagles aren't interested?

On the surface, it looks like a perfect fit. Asomugha reportedly wants to play for a contender on the east coast, the Eagles are in desperate need of a corner to play across from Asante Samuel, and the team has shown with Samuel and others that they will spend if they believe a guy is worth it.


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According to TerezOwens.com, the Eagles and Jeff Fisher will have a sit-down meeting sometime in the near future to discuss the opening at defensive coordinator.

"My sources are telling me Fisher will meet with the Philadelphia Eagles about their defensive coordinator position opening," writes 'Terez.' "If he doesn’t accept, he will most likely take a year off living at his Montana ranch and then try become a Head Coach next year."

Philly was buzzing with Fisher rumors shortly after the long-time head coach left the Tennessee Titans thanks in part to ESPN's John Clayton and his usual shot-in-the-dark reporting, but that rumor was shot down fairly quickly by several people much more credible than Clayton.

Now, it appears, it can start again.


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Once the hurt from the Eagles' playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers started wearing off, the ire of the fanbase was turned toward Andy Reid and his, let's say, methodical approach to finding a new defensive coordinator after sending Sean McDermott packing.

Dick Jauron was the favorite for the job considering he's one of Reid's old buddies and was already on the staff as the secondary coach; he's now in Cleveland. Jim Mora, Jr. was a candidate for a short time, but he's headed back to the booth.

Dennis Allen, the New Orleans Saints secondary coach, was brought in for an interview, but that was reportedly never very serious.

So a couple weeks removed from the season, the Eagles are still without a defensive coordinator and the fans are getting restless. But instead of focusing on the unsettling fact that the team still has not decided who will run the defense, perhaps we should take a half-full approach.


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Hey look, two guys who don't want to be in Oakland.


Since the talks of Donovan McNabb-to-St. Louis have been shot down, more crazy rumors are now beginning to make their way around the blogosphere regarding McNabb's future with the Eagles.

And apparently, the Raiders are the likeliest team to land McNabb -- if you listen to the crazy rantings of the same people who believed McNabb was on his way to St. Louis. As if their credibility wasn't hurt enough, they're now throwing their names behind this far-fetched (at best) rumor.

But Mike Florio over at ProFootballTalk.com takes the cake with his report of what he believes a trade between the Raiders and Eagles might entail. He says, according to a "tipster" of his, that the Eagles would send McNabb and cornerback Asante Samuel to Oakland in exchange for cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

And that's it. There are apparently no picks involved in this scenario and absolutely no source to back it. To be fair, Florio says that this is only the workings of this "tipster" and that it's not a true source, but then why in the hell would you publish it?

It makes absolutely no sense for the Eagles to give the Raiders a franchise quarterback and a top-five corner in exchange for Asomugha. Asomugha is arguably the best corner in the league (Darelle Revis may take exception), but there is never, has never, and never will be, a corner worth nearly $17 million in one season.

That $17 million number, by the way, just happens to be what Asomugha will make in 2010.

Perhaps if the Raiders throw in a third-round pick and would take Sheldon Brown instead of Samuel, they might have something that piques the Birds' interest. But this deal, as presented, is nothing more than the crazy ramblings of a man who has gained the trust of an even crazier man who, by some deal struck with the devil, has a forum to display his own crazy ramblings.

This is also ignoring the fact that McNabb would never sign an extension with Oakland. It's funny how these so-called experts used that fact to back up their belief that he'd get traded to St. Louis, but now that it has fallen through, they want us to believe that McNabb actually would sign an extension with Oakland.

Do they think we're that stupid? Do they think you're that stupid? Well, the short answer is yes; The long answer is another rant for another day.

I've maintained that I do not believe McNabb will be traded, and that if he is, it will be for nothing less than a first-round pick or a player the Eagles believe is of equal value.

It doesn't look like the market for McNabb is that high, for one reason or another, and any team even thinking about forking over a first-round pick is a franchise so poor that McNabb wants absolutely nothing to do with them.

So no, I do not believe McNabb will become an Oakland Raider. That is, unless they're willing to, for the second year in a row, give up a first-round pick for a player who has absolutely no desire to play for them and then simply hold him hostage with the franchise tag.
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Sorry, Asante, you're not number one.


The term "shut-down corner" has been thrown around a lot as of late. Unfortunately, there is really no such thing as a shut-down corner in the NFL today.

The last guys who could have been considered as such were Rod Woodson and Deion Sanders. While the NFL still has some great corners, a shut-down corner does not exist.

The loss of the shut-down corner is not due to a drop off in talent, but a change in scheme over the past decade. A corner who is relied on to absolutely shut down his man on every play really does not exist any longer.

The sophistication of offenses has resulted in teams playing a lot more zone coverage, and a corner cannot be a shut-down guy in the zone.

These guys come as close to a shut-down corner as the NFL has to offer.



Honorable Mention: Darrelle Revis (New York Jets)

32 games started, 1 sack, 8 INTs, 1 TD, 33 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, 119 tackles, 1-time Pro Bowler

Revis is a young guy who's starting to get some whispers around the league because of his fantastic play.

Only two years in the league and he's already earned himself a Pro Bowl selection, racked up eight interceptions, and scored his first touchdown.

He's got great size for a corner these days at 6'0 and 205 pounds, which allows him to stay with nearly any receiver in the game today. He's also not afraid to hit, as evidenced by his 119 tackles over the past two seasons.

With a guy like Rex Ryan calling the shots in New York, we could see Revis go from relative unknown to All-Pro.



5. Antonio Cromartie (San Diego Chargers)

23 games started, 12 INTs, 3 TDs, 32 passes defended, 119 tackles, 1-time Pro Bowler and 1-time All-Pro

Were it not for the injury bug catching up to Cromartie last season, he may find himself a few spots higher on this list.

In 2007, Cromartie was hands down the very best corner in the game. His ten interceptions was the most in the game, and his cover skills and long arms surprised opposing quarterbacks.

Even last season, while playing through a hip injury, Cromartie snagged two interceptions while returning one for a touchdown.

If Cromartie can stay healthy in 2009, look for him to snag between six and eight interceptions while making his way back to the Pro Bowl.



4. Charles Woodson (Green Bay Packers)

149 games started, 9.5 sacks, 36 INTs, 7 TDs, 82 passes defended, 18 forced fumbles, 549 tackles, 5-time Pro Bowler and 1-time All-Pro

Woodson had a wonderful start to his career, earning four Pro Bowl selections and an All-Pro nod in his second season in the NFL.

The next seven seasons, however, were not nearly as good.

He did not make it to the Pro Bowl in any of those years, even though he most certainly deserved it in a couple of them. Playing for a bad Oakland team saw him get swept under the rug and overlooked when that time came around.

He finally got out of Oakland after the 2005 season, and got a fresh start in Green Bay where he already has more interceptions in his three years there than he did during his eight years in Oakland (17 in Oakland, 19 in Green Bay).

With his first Pro Bowl nod in seven years coming last season, Woodson looks like he's getting better with age, rather than worse. He's a prime candidate to move to safety and be a Pro Bowler there in a couple years when his speed begins to leave him.



3. Champ Bailey (Denver Broncos)

150 games started, 2 sacks, 43 INTs, 4 TDs, 124 passes defended, 5 forced fumbles, 601 tackles, 8-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro

It was tough to put Champ Bailey this low on the list, but last season was not a good one, and he may be starting to show his age.

He's only 30, but after not missing a game for the first six years of his career, he started missing a game or two here and there, now last season he missed seven games and did not appear to have the same speed or agility that he possessed in the past.

Still one of the best in the game, but only one interception is not going to get it done. On top of only one interception, for the first time in his career we actually saw receivers getting behind Bailey.

Perhaps it was just the injury, in fact, we all hope it was just the injury. Bailey has been the best corner this decade and has been incredible to watch, but he gets beaten out by two young guys.

So is the life of an NFL player.



2. Asante Samuel (Philadelphia Eagles)

68 games started, 26 INTs, 4 TDs, 101 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, 242 tackles, 2-time Pro Bowler and 1-time All-Pro

Not everyone was as sold on Samuel as the Eagles were when he entered free agency a year ago. However, those teams are probably kicking themselves right now.

After being passed up for the Pro Bowl in 2006 after recording 10 interceptions, Samuel has been to two consecutively and even earned an All-Pro nod in 2007.

Many analysts and other experts claimed that his success came from the system in New England and that transitioning to Philadelphia would exploit him.

Four regular season interceptions, and two playoff interceptions (to go along with one touchdown in the regular season and one in the playoffs) later, and he's silenced the critics.

The scary thing is, he said that he was just getting comfortable in the system. Another training camp under his belt and he'll be even better than last season. Look for another Pro Bowl selection and All-Pro nod for Asante Samuel.



1. Nnamdi Asomugha (Oakland Raiders)

69 games started, 2 sacks, 10 INTs, 1 TD, 52 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, 225 tackles, 1-time Pro Bowler and 1-time All-Pro

While the stats don't look great, any real football fan understands why Asomugha is tops on this list.

While it's not an officially kept stat, I've found that Asomugha was only thrown at between 25 and 31 times during the entire 2008 season, with only about 10 completions allowed during that same time span.

After his eight interception season in 2006, teams figured out that it was better to just throw to the other side of the field rather than test Asomugha anymore.

Even with only about 30 passes thrown his way, he still came away with an interception and nine passes defended.

Asomugha is about as close as they come to a shut-down corner, and maybe as close as we'll ever see again.
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