FanHouse DeAngelo Hall

After watching Deltha O'Neal struggle to replace Asante Samuel in 2008, the New England Patriots have signed 12-year veteran Shawn Springs to a three-year contract in an effort to strengthen their secondary.

It was reported over the weekend that a deal was close, and it's now official as ESPN's John Clayton reports Springs will make $10 million over the next three seasons.

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According to a report in The Providence Journal, the New England Patriots are going to sign former Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs sometime this week. The Redskins decided to re-up with DeAngelo Hall to go opposite Carlos Rogers on the outside, so the aging and injury-prone Springs was deemed expendable and released.

This could end up being a very nice signing for the Patriots. No terms of the deal have been reported yet, so we don't know if they overpaid. Assuming they didn't, though, the Pats have acquired a solid corner who still has a few years left.

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The Redskins accomplished two things on the opening day of free agency: they signed three talented players that will immediately be expected to play key roles. And they killed any chance at having a "decent" season.

Washington will either be very, very good or very, very disappointing -- there is no possibility of simply meeting expectations. Why? Well, when you fork over $180 million for 13.6 percent of your team's starting lineup, you do so with the goal of winning the Super Bowl. Nothing less will be acceptable, not after this.

DeAngelo Hall was nothing short of a fantastic investment for Raiders' owner Al Davis. Oakland sunk a $70-million deal into the cornerback, then released him midway through last season. You would think the rest of the league might have wised up and learned their lesson.

You would be wrong. NFL.com's Adam Schefter is reporting that, as previously discussed, the Redskins are locking up Hall to a long-term deal. Apparently it's a six-year deal worth $54 million, $22 million of which is guaranteed.

On Thursday Al Davis prevented one of his starting cornerbacks from hitting unrestricted free agency, though it's probably not the one Raiders fans were hoping to have signed.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Raiders and cornerback Chris Johnson have come to an agreement on a four-year contract extension. Johnson was set to become an unrestricted free agent on February 27. Terms of the deal have not been announced.

With the Redskins' season ending unceremoniously with a loss in San Francisco, thoughts of the 2009 season have already begun.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers believes that he shouldn't be a part of those thoughts.

"I'm not a backup to nobody," Rogers said. "I'm a starter in this league. Everybody knows that. There's a lot of teams that would give their right arm to have me on their team."

"In Cincinnati, I played [just] nine plays," Rogers said. "I'm used to playing 60 to 70 plays. All of a sudden, you're a backup, you're a nickel, you're a third corner. That don't sit well with me. I still haven't had answers to the questions I want to know."

Rogers had a great start to the season as the team's No. 1 corner, but saw his playing time reduced towards the end of the season. That coincided with the Redskins bringing in DeAngelo Hall -- who is also looking at signing a long-term deal with the team -- and the improved health of Shawn Springs.

Rogers plans on meeting with secondary coach Jerry Gray, who is a candidate for the Detroit Lions head coaching job. If Rogers doesn't get the answers he wants from Gray, he could request a trade.

The expectations were pretty low when the Redskins signed DeAngelo Hall to a one-year contract a few days after the Raiders decided to cut bait. Oakland forked over eight million bucks for eight weeks of substandard cornerback play, which had been Hall's calling card during his four-year career.

Despite the overrated label, several teams were interested in Hall's services, but he settled on the Redskins because the Virginia native wanted to be close to home. While the former Virginia Tech star and Falcons first-round pick hasn't been spectacular in Washington, he's been surprisingly steady.

So steady, in fact, that he replaced Carlos Rogers in the starting lineup a few weeks ago, and now, according to the Washington Post's Jason La Canfora, the 'Skins are trying to sign him to a new deal.

On Tuesday, the NFL announced its Pro Bowl rosters for the 2009 exhibition/all-star game and the Oakland Raiders, owners of three wins on the season, found out they would be sending two players to this season's game -- cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and punter Shane Lechler. Both players are more than deserving, so it's nice to see the voters ignore the team's record and send two players that are clearly worthy of the honor.

The problem for the Raiders is, both of these guys just happen to be free agents at the end of the season, and both, I'm guessing, would like to play for a team that has a chance to win more than five games a season, something the Raiders haven't done since 2002, when they played in the Super Bowl against Tampa Bay.

Having said that, Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune decided to ask the two pro bowl players -- and free-agents-to-be -- which one should be designated as the franchise player following the season.

As Oakland continues to toil along at its four-win-per-season pace, there's at least one player Raiders fans can be proud to call one of of their own.

The player? Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who continues to slide under the radar as one of the game's best defensive backs. Football people in the know recognize Asomugha as an underrated player, hidden in the never-ending chaos that is Raiders football, but Denver head coach Mike Shanahan has taken the underrated label even farther. To an all-time level, actually.

From Adam Schefter of the NFL Network:

"He is the most underrated football player in the history of the game," Shanahan said of Asomugha. "I can't believe this guy hasn't been to the Pro Bowl or people don't talk about him all the time. He is off the charts and as good as it gets. He doesn't get the attention for the way he plays consistently. He is the most underrated football player that I have ever seen in my coaching career."