Earlier this evening, Michael David Smith passed along the big news that the Oakland Raiders were prepared to part ways with, perhaps, the worst off-season pickup in the NFL, DeAngelo Hall. While Hall's poor play -- magnified by the hefty price tag he comes with -- hasn't been a surprise to, well, pretty much anyone outside of Al Davis' inner-circle of crazy, it is a surprise to see them be willing to part ways with him after just eight games.
I, for one, applaud them for owning up and, essentially, admitting that they made a huge, huge mistake. Well, two mistakes, actually. The first mistake was trading for him, the second mistake was giving him a brinks truck full of Benjamin's.
Having said that, it's equally surprising to see ESPN's tag-team duo of Chris Mortensen and John Clayton report that Davis has a list of players currently on his bad side, and that many of them could be released in an everything-must-go-style roster trimming. The other big name, allegedly, on the list? Perhaps the second worst off-season pickup, Javon Walker. The only thing that keeps Walker from being the worst, in my mind, is the fact the Raiders didn't have to give up a second-round pick to acquire him. Just a lot of money.
Hall isn't the only Raider under consideration for release. Wide receiver Javon Walker received an $11 million signing bonus and a $1 million base salary this year, but he has only 13 catches in his first seven games with the Raiders. The other players on Davis' list are unknown.
Somewhere in California Lane Kiffin is laughing out loud at all of this. And Clark Judge is probably joining him. Kiffin, the former Raiders coach, seemed to be against the addition of Walker from pretty much day one, and was quick to call out the $55 million man for not earning his pay in training camp. The only thing they're missing is for Tommy Kelly to also be on Davis' list.
Yup. I've got no idea how this team continues to lose.
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Aside From DeAngelo Hall, Raiders May Also Release Javon Walker originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.