<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Atlanta Falcons have reached an agreement in principle with the Oakland Raiders to trade cornerback DeAngelo Hall for the Raiders' second-round pick in the 2008 draft, pending the Raiders finalizing a contract with Hall, according to a source close to the Falcons. Hall is close to agreeing to a contract with the Raiders that will pay him just below what Asante Samuel signed with the Eagles, according to the source. Samuel signed a six-year deal worth a reported $57 million, with $20 million guaranteed. Hall is a former first-rounder taken with the eighth pick in the 2004 draft.</div> <div align="center">Source: ESPN.com</div> Man, if this is true what a steal! The Raiders now have arguably the best secondary in the league. I'm pissed, because I thought the Giants were offering their first rounders for him. Don't really know what to believe anymore.
Damn, I wanted to keep the second round pick but then again Hall >>> anyone we could get in the second round. CB wasn't really a need for us but our secondary is sick now. According to an article I just read the coaches were saying that tackling by the secondary *cough*Schweigart*cough* was a problem in us giving up a lot of rushing yards. Hall is a great tackler as a CB plus Gibril Wilson is great against the run. Chutney, it may have been true that the Giants were offering their first but to make the deal go through the other team also has to agree to a long term deal with Hall. That may have been the deal breaker. Allegedly the deal Hall will get will be just a bit smaller than Asante Samuel's. Plus the difference between the Giants' first and the Raiders second round pick is only 4 slots apart. Giants' first is overall #31, Raiders' second is 34 overall. I'm thinking now we should try to trade Fabian Washington or Stanford Routt to get into the 2nd/3rd round. Right now after our #4 overall pick we don't pick again until the 4th round. Maybe Al is even looking to trade down from #4 to get multiple 1st/2nds/3rds. Then agian, I think with the moves we made and the holes we've filled I'd rather go after one great player in McFadden, C. Long, Gholston, or Jake Long. We covered the holes at WR, safety, filled CB even though that wasn't a problem, we got several DTs, re-signed Fargas and re-structured Rhodes while Bush is 100% now. Our only need would probably be DE since Burgess and Jay Richardson is all we have there. Even so, we could just as easily start those two, sign a nice backup who can rotate to either DE and still take McFadden or J. Long. We've got tons of options and tons of talent. Even at a large cost I'm liking the moves that are being made. Our O-Line still looks suspect but we've signed a few random guys who I presume Cable likes. If Cable thinks they're worthy of being signed, he'll turn em into studs in no time.
Getting D Hall comes as somewhat of a surprise. I really like having not 1, but 2 pro bowl corners. We have the fastest, and most athletic linebackers in the league (who play the pass really well also). I think that we are good at DE. Richardson turned out to be a great pickup for us last year, and showed signs of greatness at times. Burgess will continue to dominate at the book end. We have 4 DT's under contract. Rob Ryan returns to coach the D. They are definitely going to stop the pass. Will this be the year that we finally stop the run on a consistant basis? Finally, if they sign Jake Long next month, I would consider this offseason a major success. It seems like the Raiders improved all squads in all phases except for, like you mentioned, the offensive line.
Link Well it looks like Mort rushed this report out again (what's new?), because Hall denied that its a done deal. Looks like we can pencil in the Raiders as a frontrunner though, whereas I had no idea they were gunning for him before this. And I think this has shown us that, while a lot of teams are offering what the Falcons want, very few are willing to give DeAngelo the kind of contract that he's asking for. And that's probably going to be the main holdup for this trade. I had some time to think about it, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm questioning how smart a move it really is for the Raiders. They've already tied up most of their capspace by overpaying Tommy Kelly, Gibril Wilson, and Javon Walker, and now they're on the verge of bringing in another potentially huge contract in DeAngelo Hall. Lost in all the shuffle is the fact that they had to franchise Nnamdi Asomugha this offseason. All the hype aside, I personally consider Asomugha to be a superior corner to Hall. And I don't think its possible for Oakland to keep him if Hall is brought in.
Aso is definitely a better corner than Hall. Hall is top 10, maybe top 5 but hes inconsistent and makes some bonehead mistakes occasionally. IMO Asomogha is up there with Samuels, Cromartie, etc. he just doesn't get any pub because he plays on a bad team and his stats don't jump out (because no one throws at him). QBs don't even throw at Aso more than a couple times a game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Mar 16 2008, 03:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well it looks like Mort rushed this report out again (what's new?), because Hall denied that its a done deal.</div> Mortensen is reporting it? That's unfortunate.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Mar 16 2008, 05:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Aso is definitely a better corner than Hall. Hall is top 10, maybe top 5 but hes inconsistent and makes some bonehead mistakes occasionally. IMO Asomogha is up there with Samuels, Cromartie, etc. he just doesn't get any pub because he plays on a bad team and his stats don't jump out (because no one throws at him). QBs don't even throw at Aso more than a couple times a game.</div> Cromartie is an animal. You don't find elite tall corners like him either, what a freak. I'm not a Chargers fan either.
Namdi is also a tall CB, that no one wants to throw to, and don't. Fortunately, he is already on my favorite team. Back to the DeAngelo Hall news.... <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Deal almost done By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 11:35 am in Oakland Raiders 290 Comments » DeAngelo Hall told the Atlanta Journal Constitution he expects to be an Oakland Raider by Thursday. “There is just some tweaking of the language that needs to be done, some minor details,” Hall said of contract negotiations. “No deal breakers.” The Raiders would part with the second and sixth-round picks in the 2008 draft. Hall told the Journal-Constitution he would fly to Oakland Wednesday.</div>
This is going to be very costly for the Raiders. A 2nd and a 6th this year just to acquire him and they'll probably have to give him Samuel type money to boot! Crazy Al is at it again...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack @ Mar 18 2008, 04:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This is going to be very costly for the Raiders. A 2nd and a 6th this year just to acquire him and they'll probably have to give him Samuel type money to boot! Crazy Al is at it again...</div> Not very surprising. The philosophy is always "reload" not "rebuild". Aside from the obvious J Russell anomaly last year, every year people gasp at the numbers presented in Raider contracts, and every year they always get them signed. I think that the money thing will not become an issue until next season, when Namdi is no longer franchise tagged. Getting Hall now insures that whatever happens next season, we are still ok at CB.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (huevonkiller @ Mar 17 2008, 01:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM @ Mar 16 2008, 05:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Aso is definitely a better corner than Hall. Hall is top 10, maybe top 5 but hes inconsistent and makes some bonehead mistakes occasionally. IMO Asomogha is up there with Samuels, Cromartie, etc. he just doesn't get any pub because he plays on a bad team and his stats don't jump out (because no one throws at him). QBs don't even throw at Aso more than a couple times a game.</div> Cromartie is an animal. You don't find elite tall corners like him either, what a freak. I'm not a Chargers fan either. </div> I agree, that being said, he and Asomogha are the same height. Cromartie had an insane season (44 tackles, 10 INTs, 18 PD) last year but Aso had a comparable season the year prior (51 tackles, 8 INTs, 19 PD). In '07 Asomogha only gave up 10 completions all season and he was only thrown at 31 times. Peyton Manning threw at him once for an incompletion and Brett Favre answered "no" when asked if he would throw at whoever Asomogha was covering. Cromartie is well on his way to being given the "Asomogha treatment" but right now I'd say they're on the same level. Looks like the Hall deal is basically done. Even though CB isn't a big need for us I'm liking the secondary now. We have two guys who are lock up man defenders at CB which will hopefully allow the other players to focus more on stopping the run. Gibril is great against the run and Hall is a good tackler for a CB. Our defense is looking very nice though we could still use another DE and maybe an upgrade at SLB.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack @ Mar 18 2008, 04:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This is going to be very costly for the Raiders.</div> It's not my money! Spend your whole fortune, Al! as much as they will let ya!
Wonder who the Falcons will pick, they now have 3 2nd round picks. I thik they should take Dorsey with the 3rd, and maybe one of the top 3 QB slip into the 2nd round.
