Eagles land Samuel; Jets shuffle defensive roster

The Philadelphia Eagles landed what was considered the biggest prize in this year's NFL free-agent sweepstakes.

The New York Jets traded an unhappy defensive player to New Orleans and traded for one from Carolina.

Those were the big moves as the NFL's free-agent period began Friday, a day marked by trades that were more interesting than free-agent signings.

The Eagles made the biggest splash by signing Asante Samuel, the former Patriots cornerback who tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10 last season. Philadelphia had only had 11 interceptions all year.

They paid a reported $57 million over six years with $20 million of it guaranteed, comparable to the $80 million that cornerback Nate Clements got for eight years from San Francisco last year.

"We regarded Asante as the No. 1 available free agent in the NFL," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said

But how much that will help the Eagles in the NFC East remains to be seen. They finished last at 8-8 in the NFC's best division, which includes the Super Bowl champion Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, whose 13-3 record was the best in the conference. San Francisco, which spent big for Clements last season, finished 5-11, a record the Eagles hope isn't in their future.

Samuel had been protected last season as the Patriots' franchise player, but was allowed to go this year. He was one of the defensive keys last season to New England's run to 18-0 before its Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants. He had an interception that sealed a three-point win over Philadelphia during that unbeaten run.

But he was less than perfect in the Giants' 17-14 upset win in the Super Bowl, allowing David Tyree to get loose for a touchdown and muffing a potential winning interception with less than 2 minutes left during the Giants' winning touchdown drive.

THE JETS, meanwhile, traded for defensive tackle Kris Jenkins from Carolina and dealt linebacker Jonathan Vilma, the 2004 defensive rookie of the year to New Orleans. Vilma's problem: a 4-3 middle linebacker, he didn't fit in well to Eric Mangini's 3-4 defense.

LIONS: In another major trade, Detroit sent inconsistent defensive tackle Shaun Rogers to Cincinnati. The Lions got third- and fifth-round picks in return. Detroit had been fielding offers for Rogers. The Lions settled on the Bengals' offer of two picks in the middle of the NFL draft in April. Rogers is often among the most dominant defensive players in the league. But he failed to live up to expectations at times because of weight and off-the-field problems.