Eagles make early cut of linebacker Alex Hall

The Eagles made a surprise move today, cutting linebacker Alex Hall to make room for Nate Allen at Training Camp. Hall, who came to the Eagles in the Sheldon Brown/Chris Gocong trade, figured to be in the mix for a linebacker spot but instead is the first cut at Camp. Billed as a pass-rushing specialist, Hall is a combo LB/DE that figured to get a look as a 3rd down rusher.

As for why the Eagles cut Hall, Andy Reid believes that Hall is really a 3-4 linebacker and wouldn't be a great fit for the Birds 4-3 system. It's likely the Eagles cut him this early in Camp because they want to give him a shot to catch on with another team but you have to wonder why they traded for him in the first place. Surely the Eagles actually scouted the guy before they made the trade?

Now all that is left from the Brown/Gocong trade are the 4th and 5th round picks they got from the Browns that turned out to be Trevard Lindley and Ricky Sapp. That sure doesn't seem like much in return for a starting corner like Brown. While I didn't have Hall in my initial projection of the Eagles roster, I'm still amazed they cut him this early rather than getting rid of an undrafted rookie player.