The Las Vegas Raiders have had some success with their recent draft picks, although not all of them have panned out, with 2018 second-round pick PJ Hall falling into the latter category/
In two seasons with the Raiders, Hall was able to take the field for 30 out of 32 possible games, missing two in his rookie season due to injury. Hall’s third season was supposed to be a huge prove-it year as the Raiders had finally brought in some talent at his position.
With Maliek Collins, Jonathan Hankins, Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby, and recently-signed Carl Nassib all vying for time on the offensive line, there wasn’t much playing time left for someone like Hall.
Now, he will not have that chance to earn that time as he has officially been cut by the team, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:
Source: The #Raiders are releasing PJ Hall, a former 2nd round pick.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 3, 2020
It appears before cutting him, the Raiders were able to find a trade partner in the Minnesota Vikings:
The #Raiders, who informed #Raiders 2nd round DT PJ Hall he was being released today, traded him to the #Vikings instead for a 7th round conditional pick in 2021.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 3, 2020
The move was made in an effort to get the roster down to 80, and the Raiders will get the seventh-round pick back if he stays on the Vikings’ active roster for at least six games this season.
Without Hall, the Raiders starting defensive front does not change. However, they do lose some of the depth that he provided. Some of the players behind him on the depth chart include Kendal Vickers and Daniel Ross.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden had his eye on Hall for quite some time now, notably discussing Hall being overweight at the start of training camp in 2019. Hall – at just 25 years of age – should not be unemployed for long, as some teams would love to have a flyer on a young defensive tackle that was highly-touted coming out of the draft.
However, with the Raiders needing to make cuts to get to the required roster size, defensive tackle is finally a position they feel comfortable enough with to make cuts. This is the most talented group Gruden has had at that position since trading Khalil Mack.
In 30 games for the Raiders over two seasons, Hall totaled 48 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and two pass deflections.
Gruden excited about offseason additions on defense
Part of what may have led to the surprise cutting of Hall is the newest additions to the Raiders defense that Gruden was very excited about.
Beyond just the new rookies, Gruden was happy about additions on his defensive line. This included Nassib and Collins, who has a history with defensive line coach Rod Marinelli.
Perhaps this was Gruden signaling that the team made a mistake with Hall and will look toward the future with this new group.
