Asante Samuel: "This Is My Home. I Want To Be Here"

Asante Samuel showed up to the Eagles facility today for the first of the team's voluntary workouts. He addressed the trade rumors that have followed him this offseason (and really for the past year) in a much more positive manner than we've seen in the past. Last year, during camp, he seemed downright upset at the rumors.

This year? Not so much.

Any time your name comes up, of course you're going to pay attention," Samuel told PhiladelphiaEagles.com. "It's my future. I'm not going to dwell on it or whatever, but I just know the Eagles' main focus is to win a Super Bowl and I think I'm an important part of that, so we'll see how it goes."

Going through the storystream we have on Asante trade rumors over SBNation Philly, it's actually kind of funny to see how his tone has changed.

When asked if he still wants to be here, Asante was clear.

"Of course, I love it here. This is my home. I've never been to a place I love more than Philadelphia," Samuel said. "It's up to management. I want to be here. I've always voiced that opinion. It's up to them."

Asante also said he expects the secondary to perform a lot better this season given that they'll have a full offseason together. He admitted that last season, the new guys simply hadn't caught up by the time the season started.

"The more time you spend together the more you get to jell, the better things are," Samuel said. "We jumped right into training camp (last year). A lot of people didn't know a lot of things. We had two new corners. They had to catch on at a fast pace."