State of the Redskins - NFL Network Videos

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The bigger point is this: by giving that much money to Hall, the Redskins 100% definately lost Shawn Springs as a consequence. This is not debateable. Springs is not a Redskin because Hall is still a Redskin. Springs has been a much, much better corner than Hall in his career, but yes, he's getting to the age where his effectiveness will start declining. Age was a big factor in this decision, but there were plenty of FA options where the Skins could have had their cake, and ate it too. 25 is very young for a corner, but 27 years old offers the same sort of complement to the 34 year old Springs, and we could have gotten this sort of a young player with a stronger track record than Hall without any sort of long term commitment.

So, we got very much played by the Patriots in this deal, who were able to upgrade cheaply at a position of need (CB) by playing off our unreasonable expectations for Hall. Would they have made a play to sign Hall if we let him go? It's more than possible, but I'm pretty convinced that they were just bluffing.