Asante Samuel cut by Atlanta: Could a New England reunion be in the works?

Damian Strohmeyer/ SI
It's that time of year when NFL teams start to shed bad contracts like they're going out of style. With free agency looming, overpaid veterans around the league will hit the chopping block, with their teams looking to clear up cap space for the offseason.

The Atlanta Falcons got a head start to their spring cleaning last night, and its a name Patriots fans are familiar with.
Neither move is particularly surprising. Injuries limited the 33 year old Samuel to just 11 games last year. Due a $3.5 million base salary, plus another million in potential roster bonuses, Samuel was a logical target to be cut. The same goes for Nicholas, whose $3 million salary hardly justified his diminishing role on defense.

Between Samuel ($4 million saved) and Nicholas ($2 million), the Falcons increased their projected cap space from $7 million to $12 million.

For Patriots fans, the question becomes whether Samuel could return to Bill Belichick and the Patriots to finish his career. The answer to that question, at least in my mind, is a resounding "no". A short list of the reasons this won't happen includes Samuel's age (33), his injury history, his poor tackling, his age, his tendency to gamble in coverage, his diminishing speed leading to him getting burned more often when he does gamble, his age, his (assumed) unrealistic contract demands, his (also assumed) pride making it tough for him to come back to the team that wouldn't pay him in his prime, the team's solid depth at cornerback, and his age.

In case you're wondering why Samuel's age factored so promently in that last paragraph, let me remind you of some of the other "veteran" (in other words, over 30) corners the Patriots have tried to get something out of in past years. 31 year old Duane Starks in 2005. 31 year old Deltha O'Neal in 2008. 32 year old Chad Scott in 2006. If you've forgotten these names, its because you forced them out of your memory after many years of torment.

One final reminder: think of 35 year old Champ Bailey, one of the best corners to ever play, getting burned to a crisp in the Super Bowl by the likes of Doug Baldwin. No thanks.