At 30 years old, DeAngelo Hall's best football may be behind him, but the Washington Redskins are banking that he still has a few productive seasons left by agreeing to a four-year extension with the veteran cornerback. Hall played last season on a one-year deal worth $1.25 million, but will be getting a significant raise with an extension worth close to $5 million per season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
NFL news: DeAngelo Hall agrees to extension, Tony Gonzalez joins CBS
The Redskins made their first significant move of the offseason, agreeing to an extension with cornerback DeAngelo Hall. That story and more in Tuesday’s news roundup.
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Re-signing Hall was a priority for the Redskins this offseason. New head coach Jay Gruden reportedly contacted Hall and expressed the desire for him to remain in Washington, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post. According to Jones, Gruden wanted to keep Hall in the fold because of his play and his leadership. While Hall brings plenty of experience, the length of the deal and the reported price tag make the move easy to question. The free agent market for cornerbacks has worsened for players in recent seasons due to a flood of talent. Many corners were forced to settle for one-year deals last offseason, with few teams investing long-term in the position.
The market appears to be equally flooded this offseason, making the decision to give a 30-year-old corner a four-year deal a bit peculiar. At $5 million per season, Hall would rank in the top 25 for average cornerback salaries. His play doesn’t match that pay grade, at least according to Pro Football Focus, which graded him as the No. 84 cornerback last season.
DeAngelo Hall surrendered 2,629 yards in the last 3 seasons, most of any CB in the NFL.
— Pete Damilatis (@PFF_Pete) February 18, 2014 A four-year deal worth $20 million may have been enough to sign Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Aqib Talib, Brent Grimes, Captain Munnerlyn, Tarell Brown, Sam Shields, Vontae Davis or one of a number of free agent options. Cary Williams and Sean Smith were two of the few corners to get multi-year deals in free agency last year, and their deals averaged $5.6 and $5.5 million per season. Tramaine Brock, the 25-year-old who graded out as PFF's No. 15 corner last season, signed a four-year extension with San Francisco worth an average of $3.5 million per season.
With so many equal or better options set to hit free agency and given the current state of the cornerback market, Washington’s decision to give Hall a lucrative long-term extension three weeks before free agency could prove to be a misstep.
CBS announced some changes to The NFL Today on Tuesday, adding Tony Gonzalez to the program. Gonzalez retired following the season and is making a quick transition to broadcasting. He will contribute to The NFL Today, Inside the NFL and That Other Pregame Show. Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe, meanwhile, have been let go from The NFL Today.
Tampa Bay will have a new look next season with a new logo and new helmet design. The new designs will be unveiled by former Buc Warren Sapp and current Buc Gerald McCoy on the NFL Network on Thursday. As Sander Philipse of Bucs Nation noted, this will be the first major uniform change in Tampa Bay since the team completely revamped their uniforms and logo in 1997.
The former Lion already took a trip to Pittsburgh and will reportedly schedule more free agent visits soon. Atlanta and Denver are among the teams interested in the hard-hitting safety. Unlike pending free agents, Delmas is free to visit with other teams because he was released by Detroit.
See More:
