Nnamdi Asomugha

TRYING TO determine the primary reason for the Eagles' bad-awful pass defense last year is like trying to find an answer to the old chicken-or-egg question. Was it the meek pass rush, which recorded just 30 sacks and too often gave opposing quarterbacks enough time to get a mani-pedi let alone find an open receiver? Or was it the mistake-prone secondary, which managed to turn coverage-blowing into a 16-game art form? Clearly, there was enough blame to go around for the franchise-record 33 touchdown passes the Eagles gave up, their league-worst 99.6 opponent passer rating and their measly eight interceptions.

On the day the NFL's free-agent market opened, the Eagles released cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the most heralded free-agent signings in franchise history. Asomugha, who played two seasons in Philadelphia, was scheduled to receive a base salary of $15 million this season, with $4 million guaranteed. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with Ben Dogra, Asomugha's agent, at the scouting combine last month. The sides could not agree on a restructured deal. Roseman said Tuesday that the Eagles had thought over this decision for the last two weeks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Nnamdi Asomugha was benched in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, ending his disappointing season. Asomugha said he hopes to return to the Eagles in 2013 and did not interpret the benching as a sign that the Eagles do not want him back.  "I think that was just a matter of [defensive coordinator Todd Bowles] saying, 'You come out for this series and get it together,' as opposed to, 'We're done,' " Asomugha said.

MIKE PATTERSON. Cullen Jenkins. And there will be more. Roster carnage is the only certainty when an NFL team fires an underperforming coach. Andy Reid goes, Chip Kelly arrives, the vision of the entire Eagles organization changes and the world is again reminded that those 8-year contracts signed by NFL players are really a series of eight, 1-year contracts. And don't forget to write. With that, a word here about cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha: He needs to go - for his sake, and Kelly's sake, and everyone's.

This year was supposed to be different for Nnamdi Asomugha. The star cornerback, who has won all manner of individual honors in his eight professional seasons but has never reached the NFL playoffs, joined a team with every expectation of playing meaningful games into the winter. Instead, the Eagles are 3-5 and on the brink of losing any realistic postseason hope before Thanksgiving. The situation is not lost on Asomugha. "We've got to start winning. There's no way of sugarcoating that or make it seem like it's OK to lose a couple here and there; none of that is acceptable at this point.

INDIANAPOLIS - Like Michael Vick, there once was a time when it seemed implausible that Nnamdi Asomugha would play for the 2013 Eagles. The former all-pro cornerback, with even the most positive of reviews, has been average since the Eagles signed him to a five-year, $60 million contract in July of 2011. Asomugha, in the end, will make considerably less than that number when the Eagles finally decide to release him. But a parting of ways may have to wait a year because the contract that keeps taking will take at least another $4 million from Jeffrey Lurie's coffers.

INDIANAPOLIS - Conclusions should not be drawn from Chip Kelly's and Howie Roseman's lukewarm endorsement of Nnamdi Asomugha on Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. Neither the Eagles coach nor the general manager came out and said he had no interest in keeping the 31-year-old cornerback - even at his $15.5 million salary. But the Eagles' brain trust - especially Kelly, who has already lavished praise on certain players - gave little indication that Asomugha will be part of the team's plans moving forward.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Nnamdi Asomugha was benched in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' 42-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, ending his disappointing season. Asomugha said he hopes to return to the Eagles in 2013 and did not interpret the benching as a sign that the Eagles do not want him back.  "I think that was just a matter of [defensive coordinator Todd Bowles] saying, 'You come out for this series and get it together,' as opposed to, 'We're done,' " Asomugha said.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Nnamdi Asomugha missed practice one day after he collided with Nate Allen in one of the most violent moments at Eagles training camp. The cornerback did not have any concussion symptoms, did not lose consciousness, and was suffering from only whiplash symptoms and a lacerated lip, coach Andy Reid said Tuesday. "He was completely conscious the whole time," Reid said before he held his final practice at Lehigh University. "But he did get a pretty good laceration to his lip and his back of his neck is a little bit sore.

Sixteen months into Nnamdi Asomugha's tenure with the Eagles, the oft-criticized former Pro Bowl cornerback admitted his experience is "not even close" to what he anticipated when he signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Eagles in July 2011. He thought he was joining a contender, but the Eagles are 11-15 since he signed, and Asomugha is on pace to continue a career-long postseason drought. Because of his contract and his previous status as one of the NFL's elite cornerbacks, Asomugha has seen his play come under scrutiny.

TRYING TO determine the primary reason for the Eagles' bad-awful pass defense last year is like trying to find an answer to the old chicken-or-egg question. Was it the meek pass rush, which recorded just 30 sacks and too often gave opposing quarterbacks enough time to get a mani-pedi let alone find an open receiver? Or was it the mistake-prone secondary, which managed to turn coverage-blowing into a 16-game art form? Clearly, there was enough blame to go around for the franchise-record 33 touchdown passes the Eagles gave up, their league-worst 99.6 opponent passer rating and their measly eight interceptions.

ALL PAUL HOLMGREN had to say was, "Bryz is our No. 1 goalie, now and for the foreseeable future. " Words to that effect would have squelched speculation that the Flyers' deadline trade Wednesday for Steve Mason, a young, pedigreed goalie, might mean an early divorce from Ilya Bryzgalov. Instead, Holmgren said, "We see [Mason] as one of our two goalies, not only the rest of this year, but moving forward. We'll just leave it at that for now. " Of course, nothing concerning the Flyers gets left at that.

FORMER EAGLES cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha has agreed to a 1-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers, his agent confirmed. According to an ESPN report, the deal could be worth up to $3 million. A source told ESPN that Asomugha picked the 49ers over the New Orleans Saints. Asomugha also collects a guaranteed $4 million from the Eagles, who released him earlier in the offseason.   Noteworthy *  As expected, the Arizona Cardinals acquired quarterback Carson Palmer from the Oakland Raiders.

Free-agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha reached agreement on a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday that could pay him as much as $3 million this year. The contract has no guaranteed money. The ex-Eagle is due to earn a base package of $1.35 million with salary and bonuses, and could make an additional $1.65 million in incentives. "It's not about the money for him. He wants to play for a winner," his agent said. The former all-pro was released by the Eagles on March 12 after two disappointing seasons.

The Eagles are in the honeymoon period of free agency. Last week's shopping spree produced eight players, most of whom arrive at a ripe age, fill a targeted need, and appear to have signed at reasonable prices. Yet a signing cannot be properly assessed in March because the nature of the marriage between a free agent and a new team creates so many unknowns. "When you go into free agency, it's like an arranged marriage in some aspects because you've never lived with the person.

After they added five cost-efficient free agents Tuesday evening, the Eagles were content to sit out as another wave of players was signed to hefty contracts on the second day of NFL free agency. The Birds hosted Ricky Jean-Francois for a visit Wednesday, but the San Francisco defensive lineman left for his next stop - Indianapolis - without a deal. Rumors linked the Eagles to cornerbacks, pass-rushing outside linebackers, and tackles, but nothing materialized. Coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman took a break from the activity to introduce two of their new players - tight end/fullback James Casey and defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga - and to update the Eagles' free-agency plan.

It was exciting to see the Eagles make a big splash on the first day of NFL free agency, especially since it was Nnamdi Asomugha being thrown overboard. Hey, at least he made contact. The Eagles will pay Asomugha $4 million not to play for them in 2013 and that is the best bargain general manager Howie Roseman could have made. There are two ways to make your team better, and subtraction is the easy one. It is the addition part that gets tricky, as Asomugha's two-year display of ineffectiveness demonstrated.

THE EAGLES celebrated the commencement of free agency on Tuesday by excising their biggest free-agent disappointment in recent memory. They cut Nnamdi Asomugha. Perhaps their lesson is learned. Entering free agency as a rebuilding franchise, they can ill afford to direct too much money and too much hope on one or two veterans. They are nowhere near inserting a final puzzle piece to ensure Super Bowl contention, as evidenced by their signing of five players on Tuesday, all of whom have a chance to impact the reconfigured roster.

JUST AS FANS started to get good and worked up about the Eagles' inactivity in the early hours of free agency, the team dropped a load of signings on the reeling Twitterverse. Five new Eagles joined the roster, though they weren't the splashy, top-of-the-market guys some fans always seem to want, in the face of solid evidence that trying to build a winner that way doesn't work. The signings reflected what general manager Howie Roseman and new coach Chip Kelly said in the weeks leading up to the opening of the market: The Eagles need players, as they transition from the Andy Reid era to new systems.

On the day the NFL's free-agent market opened, the Eagles released cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the most heralded free-agent signings in franchise history. Asomugha, who played two seasons in Philadelphia, was scheduled to receive a base salary of $15 million this season, with $4 million guaranteed. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman met with Ben Dogra, Asomugha's agent, at the scouting combine last month. The sides could not agree on a restructured deal. Roseman said Tuesday that the Eagles had thought over this decision for the last two weeks.