New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel is ending his holdout to sign the 1 year franchise tender. Really? You mean a player decided to end his holdout? What player has ever actually held out for the regular season. No One!

No player is going to miss those checks when the regular season starts. So what did Samuel actually accomplish my sitting out training camp and almost the entire preseason? The Pats may have stipulated that they won’t use the franchise tag on him again next year. That’s about it (if they did indeed agree to that). He is set to make $7.79 million this season.

It’s obvious that all players want a long term deal. Injuries happen every game. If a player suffers a career ending while on a 1 year contract, they’re basically screwed forever. However, if he has a 6 year deal, then he can still collect paychecks unless he retires. That’s the whole point behind these holdouts. But a team like the Patriots, will pretty much tell a player to shut up and sign somewhere else. They don’t respond to holdouts well.

Our guess is Samuel is on the Raiders in 2008.