ATLANTA -- Asante Samuel was willing to restructure his contract to play for the Atlanta Falcons.

"I wanted to be a Falcon, so we made it work," Samuel said.

The Falcons gave up only a seventh-round draft pick Wednesday, acquiring the four-time Pro Bowl cornerback from the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Falcons announced the trade after Samuel agreed to restructure his contract to a three-year, $18.5 million deal. His contract with Philadelphia called for him to earn $9.9 million in 2012 and $11.4 million in 2013.

The Falcons were 10-6 last season and 13-3 in 2010, but lost their first playoff game each season.

"The Falcons already have an excellent team and excellent coaches and schemes and talent and all that good stuff," Samuel said in a telephone interview. "I'm just going to add to the bunch to get the one common goal."

Samuel noted he's already had a warm reception from Falcons fans on his Twitter account.

"I'm getting (followers) every second of the minute," he said. "It's fun. Everybody is excited and pumped up. It feels like I'm a missing link, so we'll see how this thing goes."

The 31-year-old Samuel gives Atlanta a strong but high-priced trio at cornerback with Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.