The Philadelphia Eagles have made the first big splash in free agency.

The Eagles and free agent cornerback Asante Samuel have agreed to terms on a 6 year deal worth an estimated $60 million.

A press conference was held at the Eagles NovaCare practice facility Friday afternoon to announce the signing of the best cornerback on the market, and one of the best FA players overall. This is undoubtedly a huge move for the Eagles, and they locked down Samuel before he could visit other interested teams like Tampa Bay and New Orleans. If you recall, a few years back they were in line to land FA LeCharles Bentley, only to have him sign with Cleveland. The Eagles have truly bolstered their secondary with this pro bowl signing.

Asante Samuel’s numbers the past 2 years:

2006: 15 GP - 64 tackles - 14 PD - 10 INT for 120 yds

2007 : 16 GP - 44 tackles - 18 PD - 6 INT for 89 yds and 1 TD

Not only does Samuel bring you great coverage in zone or man styles of defense, but he has terrific speed and has a downright nasty instinct of where the ball is going. He has played in at least 15 regular season games in 4 of his 5 NFL seasons. This is a stark contrast to Lito Sheppard, who has been quite injury prone in his young career.

With the signing of this superstar, the Eagles have to make a decision on said disgruntled corner Lito Sheppard. He has made it public that he is unhappy with his current contract, and if the Eagles can find the right deal for a WR (Roy Williams, Larry Fitzgerald are both big rumors), Lito will most certainly be packaged in that deal. That news is still yet to come.

In other Free Agency news, the Eagles are very close to signing former Oakland Raider defensive end Chris Clemons to a deal as well. Pending a physical, the talented pass rusher could sign with the team as early as Saturday. He had 8 sacks last season, and would likely swap in and out of the now open DE position with Victor Abiamiri.