Shocked Hall gets cut after a mere 8 games with Oakland

The agent for Chesapeake's DeAngelo Hall said Wednesday night the Oakland Raiders' release of Hall eight games into his first season with the team stunned him and the cornerback from Deep Creek High and Virginia Tech.

"Why did it happen? I couldn't even answer that, man," said Alvin Keels, who negotiated Hall's offseason trade from the Atlanta Falcons to Oakland. "It was a total blind-side. We didn't see it coming. But the owner (Al Davis) made a decision and everybody has to live with it."

Oakland gave Atlanta future second- and fifth-round draft picks for Hall, 24, who made two Pro Bowls in his first four pro seasons. The Raiders also signed Hall to a seven-year contract worth about $70 million.

Hall, however, admittedly struggled to adapt to Oakland's defensive strategy and was repeatedly beaten for big plays by opposing receivers. News reports Wednesday cited STATS LLC data that determined Hall yielded more yards than any pass-defender this season and was beaten 40 times on 66 passes thrown in his direction.

Hall did not respond Wednesday to an interview request. But two weeks ago, Hall told The Virginian-Pilot, "Come on, they're paying me $70 million. I haven't been playing the way I have to play.

"I'm a very tough critic, and I'm not gonna BS and say I'm playing great when I'm playing average or below average.... Guys are catching balls on me on routes that I've usually dominated."

Nonetheless, Hall leaves Oakland, which is 2-6 and was shut out 24-0 by Atlanta last weekend, having pocketed $8 million in bonuses and guaranteed salary. Keels said that amount is double what Hall would have made this season in Atlanta.

Keels said Hall, who has three interceptions this season and 20 for his career, was in line to earn $16.5 million next season, and that he assumes Davis made the move to create more money to pursue free agents.

Still, Keels said it was highly unusual that Oakland, which fired head coach Lane Kiffin last month and promoted assistant Tom Cable to interim coach, would waive Hall now rather than try to get more return from its investment.

"It's not like he was called into the office and told, 'Hey, you better tighten up and do better,' " said Keels, who called Oakland's operations "dysfunctional." "It was more like, we lost on Sunday, somebody's gotta go and DeAngelo Hall's like the scapegoat.

"I think the situation was handled poorly by the Oakland Raiders. I'm not happy about it. But what can you do about it but move on and just learn from your experience with them?"

Hall is free to sign with any team under new terms should he clear waivers this afternoon, as expected. Keels said he'd look to get Hall signed as soon as possible for the rest of this season, the last year of the contract Hall signed with the Falcons in '04 as the No. 8 overall pick in the draft.

"We're not looking for money, we're looking for the best situation," Keels said. "DeAngelo can play football, he hasn't lost the ability to play football. But I think sometimes you become a victim of a situation. I'm gonna put this one on that.

"This is a humbling experience, but he's only 24 and ready to bounce back. There's a lot of football in him. He's passionate about the game.... There's a good chance he'll land in a better situation, which I'm sure he probably will."