The Washington Redskins have released cornerback DeAngelo Hall. This news first reported by Mike Jones of the Washington Post comes as no surprise with numerous indications circulating throughout the weekend of a “highly likely” chance Hall would be released.
The team also announced this morning via Press Release that GM Bruce Allen and Head Coach Mike Shanahan will address the media on “Free Agency” today at 4 p.m. They are not obligated to do that per league rules and the two rarely have joint pressers. In fact, Bruce Allen and Shanahan haven’t had a joint presser since the day Shanahan was hired. We will update you on that later.
Washington has an $18 million cap hit that will force them to make tough decisions in the coming days. The biggest, of course being Hall, who alone carried an $8 million cap hit.
Hall, 29, was one of the more polarizing sports figures in Washington. The Chesapeake, Virginia native is known as a defensive play maker who gives up a ton of big plays. In 2012, however, Hall had an underrated season — proving himself to be the Redskins top coverage corner. Hall was a big factor in Washington’s streak to a division championship and playoff berth — consistently covering team’s top receivers. His biggest statement game(s) came against the Dallas Cowboys. In both games, Hall went neck-to-neck with Cowboys’ receiver Dez Bryant — limiting Bryant from making game-changing plays.
Now, the Redskins are without a top corner — unless you consider Josh Wilson to be that — I don’t. Therefore, as free agency opens Tuesday at 4 p.m., Washington could attempt to find a few players to fill the void left by DeAngelo Hall.
Few names of interest: Kyle Arrington (New England Patriots), Greg Toler (Arizona Cardinals), Derek Cox (Jacksonville Jaguars). Ironically, all of those players have ties to the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area.
