DeAngelo Hall has agreed to a seven year, $70 million contract with the Raiders which finalizes his trade from Atlanta to Oakland.

Atlanta Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall says he will finalize a contract with Oakland by Thursday morning, allowing the trade sending him to the Raiders to be completed.

A source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the deal is for seven years and worth $70 million. The amount of guaranteed money and bonuses in the contract have not been finalized.

This is significant to the Cowboys for two reasons: it puts to rest all of the rumors that abounded about the Cowboys making a trade for Hall, and it is another piece of the bargaining chips Terence Newman will have for his contract renewal.

First let me say that I am ecstatic Hall is going away to NFL purgatory, otherwise known as Oakland. I think that he is one of the most overrated players in the league and Al Davis way overspent to get a flashy player who gets beat way too often. Of all the rumors the Cowboys have been involved with so far this offseason, this was the one I wished the most to not come true.

The recent large contracts mediocre cornerbacks have been getting the past two years can only make Jerry Jones cringe. There is no way the Cowboys will let Newman go but it will take a hefty sum to keep him. Newman is a better all around player than either of the corners getting signed and in my opinion is better than Asante Samuel, a corner who has gaudy numbers but is not always successful in the risks he takes. Newman is safe and rarely gives up the big play and although he is turning 30 he still has a good number of playing years ahead of him.

JJT has an interesting blurb in this week's Q & A:

The Cowboys will have to definitely fix their special teams because Keith Davis is the man who gave the unit attitude. Others like Kevin Burnett or Deon Anderson can take his role, but they have to make it happen. As for [Special Teams coach Bruce Read], he didn't have a great year and some players questioned his coaching. I would say it's a situation that needs to be watched closely during the season.

If the Cowboys aren't able to step up the play of the special teams this year, getting to the Super Bowl will be nearly impossible no matter how well Tony Romo plays or how much the defense improves.

Rick Gosselin says that good teams take the cheap route in free agency.

Also, make sure you guys stop over to The Fifth Down and show how much support you can give to Blogging The Boys. This is a nice way to prove how great a job Grizz does for us over here, as well as show up those Giants fans.

Update [2008-3-18 19:3:50 by Dave Halprin (Grizz)]: Brandon is too modest to mention that his first post at The Fifth Down is up. Go on over and support him and Tuna Helper's first post.