{"id":253476,"date":"2025-11-05T14:30:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T19:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=253476"},"modified":"2025-11-05T00:21:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T05:21:02","slug":"top-nfl-free-agent-asante-samuel-jr-cleared-to-play-3-destinations-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/05\/top-nfl-free-agent-asante-samuel-jr-cleared-to-play-3-destinations-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"Top NFL Free Agent \u201cCleared\u201c to Play, 3 Destinations Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"

After spending a few months away from the league after undergoing spinal fusion surgery in April, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. is one of the best NFL free agents that’s still available and could sign with a team soon. According to multiple reports<\/a>, doctors have given him the signal to play again this season and he should be receiving interest soon as the trade deadline is passed. While there is still a top cornerback like Stephon Gilmore<\/a> available, teams may be more inclined towards Samuel as he’s still on the younger side and may invest in his potential that he could have. Originally selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the former Florida State product isn’t going to light up the field anytime soon, but he could be a solid depth piece for several teams.<\/p>\n

The Green Bay Packers are the latest team to express interest in the free agent even though there hasn’t been anything “imminent” as of now. Samuel isn’t going to be an explosive game-changer like new Colts trade acquisition Sauce Gardner, but he still has plenty of opportunities to carve out a role for himself. The cornerback has kept in touch with several teams during his recovery and it shouldn’t be a surprise if these four teams battle it out to sign the top cornerback.<\/p>\n

Top NFL Free Agent Asante Samuel Jr. \u201cCleared\u201c to Play, 3 Destinations Ranked<\/h2>\n

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Oct 5, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (5) turns up field after the catch as Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) defends during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n

This is the most logical trade destination for the cornerback as the Cowboys have arguably one of the worst pass secondaries. After their loss to the depleted Arizona Cardinals, DaRon Bland, Reddy Steward and Kaiir Elam didn’t do enough to keep this unit afloat and were smoked out. Trevon Diggs<\/a> will return at some point, but it’s hard to imagine he keeps a job with the team after the 2025 season. The Cowboys should sign Samuel for immediate relief even though it won’t be rainbow and sunshines, it gives Dallas another weapon in their secondary unit to lean on.<\/p>\n

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\"Kyle
Oct 26, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai (25) rushes and is tackled by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith (0) during the first quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n

After finally bringing their team back to life, the Baltimore Ravens are hopeful to snatch the final spot of the postseason before the year is over. However, in order for that to happen, they need to strengthen the defense, which has struggled against the pass. This is why they traded Jaire Alexander<\/a> as he no longer fit into what they were doing. Marlon Humphrey<\/a> and Nate Wiggins need another depth guy in situational moments and Samuel Jr. might be what the Ravens should look into and give him a shot to thrive.<\/p>\n

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\"The
Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt (29) reacts to Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland (84) scoring a go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL football game between Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 2, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Cincinnati Bengals<\/h3>\n

While the Bengals have been playing “lights out” on offense, that hasn’t been the same case for it’s defense. After the latest demotion of Cam Taylor-Britt<\/a>, they need just about anyone to fill the gap and step up to the starting role. Samuel might not get the start as soon as he arrives, but he could slowly build himself apart of this unit that needs a syringe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One top NFL Free Agent is given the “OK” signal to play again this season and these three teams could give him an opportunity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":253492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,10,7,19,18,6431],"tags":[7491,7723,9171,7642,7725,7422,3712,7429,7638,9573,5267],"class_list":["post-253476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-ravens","category-bengals","category-cowboys","category-chargers","category-nfl-teams","tag-asante-samuel-jr","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-cam-taylor-britt","tag-chargers-featured","tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-jaire-alexander","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-ravens-featured","tag-sauce-gardner","tag-trevon-diggs"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253476"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253550,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253476\/revisions\/253550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}