New England’s Asante Samuel breaks up a pass intended for Detroit’s Roy Williams in a game last December.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

The July 16 deadline for the New England Patriots to come to a long-term deal with franchise player Asante Samuel came and went without the sides coming to terms on a new contract.

And from all indications, they weren’t even close.

So now Samuel, who will receive a guaranteed $7.79 million for this season as a franchise cornerback — franchise players receive a one-year tender equal to the average of the top five salaries at their position — has a decision to make.

He can do one of the following:

•Sign the tender at the start of training camp and be part of the team from Day One. This, however, poses the greatest physical risk to Samuel. The money he’ll make this year is guaranteed, but if he gets hurt in training camp, it minimizes his attraction on the open market should he get to free agency next year.

•Sign the tender at the end of training camp. This option lessens his risk of getting hurt, although he certainly could be injured during the course of the regular season. But it gives Samuel a full season to prove that last year’s 10-interception performance wasn’t a fluke.

•Sign the tender and hold out until Week 10. This decision is financially foolish. For every game Samuel skips, he’ll miss out on a game check totaling nearly $487,000. Over 10 weeks, that’s almost $5 million — or more than two times what Samuel has made in his career to date. It also gives him only six games to showcase his talents, assuming he isn’t on the inactive list for a week or more after missing so much valuable time with his teammates.

“We’re going to regroup,” said agent Jay Bianco, who is a partner of Alonzo Shavers at Infinite Sports Concepts. “We’ll advise him of his options, but ultimately the decision is up to him.”

There was a significant difference between what the Patriots were offering the 25-year-old Florida native and what the corner and his camp were seeking. Bianco would not get into specifics, but indicated how far apart the sides were when he said, “There’s no way to quantify it, but it’s not a situation where if we had had a few more hours it would have gotten done.”

Samuel has not spoken to the media since telling the Boston Globe last month that he felt like he was being treated poorly by the team, but Bianco said he is not upset by the deal not being done by yesterday’s deadline.

“It’s business. None of us are upset. (Chicago’s Lance) Briggs didn’t get his deal done. It happens every year,” Bianco said. “We have advised and let him know every possibility and every option, and he will make the decision on what is best for him and his family.”

Samuel and Briggs were the two franchise-designated players not to come to long-term agreements with their respective teams this year.

The other five players who received the franchise tag — Cincinnati defensive end Justin Smith, Seattle kicker Josh Brown, Detroit defensive tackle Cory Redding, New Orleans defensive end Charles Grant, and Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney — all signed multi-year extensions with their clubs.

smanza@projo.com