Asante Samuel Wants $100 Million: Free agent cornerback Asante Samuel and his agent, Alonzo Shavers, are making it known that Samuel is looking for a contract in the range of 10 years and $100 million. This is significantly higher that Nate Clements’ record breaking contract signed last year. Well, this certainly makes it less likely that he’ll be back. I don’t care how badly Samuel wants to be in New England. If he is demanding that kind of contract from his next employer, Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli will not cave in and give this to him.

Falcons look to Emulate Pats: With the hiring of ex-Patriots director of college scouting Thomas Dimitroff coming on board with the Atlanta Falcons, it looks like the struggling franchise wishes to use the Patriots as a model for rebuilding their team. Cool. Its always nice being a role model.

Bruschi to Decide on Future Soon: According to his agent, Brad Blank, Tedy Bruschi will have a decision regarding his future soon. I love Tedy Bruschi. Class act, great player. Even at the ripe old age of 34, he still led the team in tackles with 99. Even though he is aging and slowing down, I still think that he could contribute to the Pats for another year. Ideally, the Patriots draft a young, athletic guy and Bruschi mentors him for a year or two. Whether or not that happens, we’ll see, but I would absolutely love to see this guy don the Patriot uniform for at least one more year.

Washington Wishes to Hang Around: Kelley Washington, the reserve wide receiver and special teams contributor, would like to remain in New England. Unfortunately, the Patriots are not going to pick up his $4 million option tag, so they will have to get a new contract in place if this were to happen. Kelley Washington was an important piece to the Patriots’ success in 2008. He caught very few balls, but he was an integral part of the special teams unit, where he made numerous key contributions throughout the season. While I agree that $4 million is too much, the Pats should bring him back at price tag closer to the $1-$1.5 million area. He would be well worth it.

Patriots on the Hunt at Combine: The following are players that the Patriots have met with either at the Senior Bowl or the NFL Combine:

• Darius Reynaud – WR, West Virginia
• Dexter M. Jackson – WR, Appalachian State
• Gosder Cherilus – OL, Boston College
• J Leman – ILB, Illinois
• Curtis Lofton - ILB, Oklahoma
• Shawn Crable – LB/DE, Michigan
• Vernon Gholston – LB/DE, Ohio State

Nothing too surprising here. Gholston is the All-Star of the group, and would probably be available when the Patriots pick at number seven. The strong emphasis on the linebacker/defensive end type is to be expected, as the Patriots looked weak in the linebacking corps late last season and desperately need to get younger. The offensive line looked weak in the Super Bowl, so the Patriots could take someone in the draft. I will reserve judgement on these guys until later, as I haven’t done enough homework yet to make a fari judgement.