ESPN.com’s Sal Paolantonio had several terrific points about NFL teams currently overspending for average cornerbacks and thus having their salary caps ruined with no positive gains on the field. His prime example was how the Raiders just traded for former Falcons’ corner DeAngelo Hall and paid him $70 million in the process.

Hall, who has been to two Pro Bowls, possesses many of the qualities great cornerbacks have. Great speed. Remarkable athleticism. Terrific leaping ability. Huge ego.

In reality, Hall is an average cornerback who takes needless chances, gives up a staggering number of big plays, has never helped his team win anything and wore out his welcome with the franchise that drafted him in just four years.

In three of Hall’s four seasons in Atlanta, the Falcons ranked 22nd or worse in pass defense, and only once did they manage a winning season: in his rookie year (2004), when he was a part-time starter. So don’t expect Hall’s presence to improve the Raiders’ pass defense dramatically in 2008.

Hall may be overrated and he does make costly mental and physical mistakes, but there’s no denying he’s coming off a great season. With that said, however, Paolantonio makes a great point later in his column by noting that teams would be better served to pony up for a pass rush than a cover corner. Given that the rules are designed to benefit wide receivers more than DBs, it doesn’t make sense to kill your cap by signing cornerbacks to megabucks if the QB is going to have 10 seconds to throw the ball anyway. Paolantonio used a great example of this point later in his column:

The New York Giants proved that. Did you watch their Super Bowl XLII victory over the New England Patriots ?”

In case you were one of the few Americans who missed it, that was indeed the most prolific offense in NFL history shut down by Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. And guess what? Spags had no shutdown corners.

So, it didn’t take big-name corners with big contracts to shut down Randy Moss and the most productive passing game in the history of pro football.

Excellent points.