BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Jets never really had a chance at Nnamdi Asomugha.
Gang Green might have thought otherwise at the time, but the All-Pro cornerback made it clear yesterday the Eagles — not the Jets — were the front-runners to sign him as a free agent all along.
“The Eagles were at the top of my list since this whole thing started, going as far back as March, and they stepped up and made it happen,” Asomugha told The Post yesterday during a morning break at Philadelphia’s training camp.
Of course, the Jets’ comparatively lowball offer of $30 million over three years — far short of the Eagles’ five-year, $60 million proposal — probably had something to do with Asomugha’s surprise choice of Philadelphia over Rex Ryan & Co.
The Jets’ offer, first reported by Sports Illustrated and confirmed by a league source, was for roughly $1 million less per season than fellow cornerback Darrelle Revis makes — no doubt intentionally so, to avoid another grueling Revis holdout.
Asomugha, a three-time Pro Bowl pick with the dysfunctional Raiders, said he would have relished playing alongside Revis if the Jets had been in serious contention for Asomugha’s services.
“I would have loved it,” Asomugha said. “You definitely consider those things as you’re going through the process, and a guy with [Revis’] talent level was attractive, absolutely. That whole Jets defense is very good.”
Unfortunately for the Jets, their pocketbook was not the equal of Ryan’s defense in Asomugha’s opinion — even if Asomugha continues to insist the dollars didn’t matter.
“Everybody knows [the money] wasn’t an issue at all,” he said. “It all boiled down to what I thought was the right team.”