Oakland wheeled and dealed throughout free agency but the wheels got stuck in neutral Monday, when trade talks for Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall bogged down –- at least temporarily.
After contract talks between the Raiders and Hall progressed Sunday night, they regressed Monday.
Now, a trade that would have sent Hall to Oakland and second- and sixth-round picks to Atlanta is stalled, leaving the Raiders without one of the game's top young cornerbacks and the Falcons with a player they would like to trade. The deal always could be jumpstarted –- the two sides still were negoiationg early Monday evening -- but the optimism that a deal could be struck quickly died down some Monday.
On Friday, Hall flew to Oakland and met with Al Davis and Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin. Davis has been pushing for his team to land Hall –- but at the right price.
When Davis has wanted a certain player this off-season, he usually has gotten his man –- from safety Gibril Wilson to wide receiver Javon Walker. But the deal with Hall is going to be trickier to finalize.
The Raiders already have satisfied the Falcons; but now they must do the same for Hall, who would like a contract similar to the one that free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel signed with Philadelphia.
This is not the first time a team has hoped to finalize a deal with Hall, only to see their hopes dashed. At various times, Hall has engaged in negotiations with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants, only to see a deal fail to materialize.
Atlanta is open to dealing Hall, and would prefer to, but trading partners could run low if Oakland bails. The feeling as of early Monday night was that the Raiders would do enough to get the deal done. But the question is when.
