Tennessee Titans Draft Rumors: Asante Samuel Still Available

A few weeks back there was some speculation about the Tennessee Titans being in the mix to acquire Asante Samuel from the Philadelphia Eagles. Jim Wyatt shot the rumor down, and to his credit, he pretty much always has a good feel for what is going on at Baptist Sports Park. At the time, he said there was no way the Titans would give up a third round pick for Samuel.

It seems now that Philadelphia might be backing off that price a little bit. It will be interesting to see if the Titans might be willing to explore a deal, as NFL.com's Jason LaCanofora tweeted last night, at the lower asking price.

The other huge hurdle with Samuel is his contract. He is due to make $9.9 million in 2012 and $11.4 million in 2013. There is no way the Titans would trade for him without having a restructured contract in place.

Adding Samuel would give the Titans a much needed playmaker on defense. Outside of Colin McCarhty, who is still developing, they really don't have a playmaker on that side of the ball.

Samuel graded out very well last year in rankings done by both Football Outsiders and Pro Football Focus. If the Titans could get him for a 5th or 6th round pick and add two good defensive players in the first two rounds, they could have a really strong defense in 2012.