Oakland Raiders: What Should Be Done About D.J. Hayden

The Oakland Raiders have a number of questions to answer this offseason with perhaps one of their largest being, what to do with cornerback D.J. Hayden

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The Oakland Raiders enter this offseason as a team on the rise, but also as a team with plenty of needs and questions to answer. With a secondary that – outside of David Amerson – is completely in flux and in dire need of a serious rebuild, one of the more pressing questions the Raiders will need to address is what do to about former first round pick and easily the most polarizing figure on the roster – D.J. Hayden.

To say that Hayden has been a disappointment since Reggie McKenzie used a first round pick on him back in 2013 would be a bit of an understatement. To say the least. You can probably safely go ahead and put the Hayden selection firmly in McKenzie’s “miss” column when throwing out criticisms of Oakland’s GM, as some are wont to do.

But McKenzie hasn’t shown any inclination just yet to part ways with Hayden, which leads us to the question – what should be done with him in 2016?

It seems a given at this point that Hayden is going to be on the roster when the new season opens. If there’s a couple of things we know about McKenzie, we know that he doesn’t like spending a lot on players, and that he likes paying players who are no longer on the roster even less. Cutting Hayden would leave a couple million dollars in dead money, so it seems more likely than not that fans will have one more year of seeing Hayden in a Raiders jersey.

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Since it’s about as likely that Hayden sees the starting lineup at corner this season as it is that Republicans and Democrats will join together in peaceful harmony to elect the next president, HC Jack Del Rio and DC Ken Norton Jr. are going to have to figure out what to do with him.

Using him on special teams in some way seems a given at this point. It’s also possible that Hayden sees time as the slot corner. But with Travis Carrie the better of the two when it comes to playing corner, and with the Raiders very likely bringing in another corner to start opposite Amerson, Hayden’s snaps at cornerback might not be there unless there is an injury.

One possible answer to the question about Hayden might be switching his position entirely – and making him a safety. This is not to say they shouldn’t look for upgrades at the spot – Eric Weddle or Tashaun Gipson make sense. But Hayden, if he can make the transition, can provide some valuable depth. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that the Raiders need depth at several key positions.

While not making him a starter – obviously – moving Hayden to safety to add some depth to the spot makes sense. Think about it for a minute. Hall of Famer and Raider legend Charles Woodson has shown that the transition can be made from the corner to the safety spot. And pressed into service with limited time to prepare, Carrie made an adequate safety last season. So it’s not a position switch that is without precedent.

At this point, it seems painfully obvious that Hayden doesn’t have the skills to be an NFL caliber cornerback. Anybody who saw him get torched – repeatedly – and collect penalty flags like kids collect baseball cards can’t really argue with that point.

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But as a safety, he won’t have to operate on a quick twitch hair trigger. He won’t have to reach out and grab whatever receiver is blowing by him to prevent a long touchdown. As a safety, he’ll have the ability to watch the play develop in front of him and react from there. Moving him to safety will get him off that island where he’s alone and responsible for handcuffing the opposing receiver – which he obviously can’t do effectively – and allow him to play a more supporting role in the defense.

He’ll be able to react to the play rather than having to react to the player in front of him. Which can only benefit him and the defense as a whole.

Hayden has speed and can make the occasional sterling play. But those sterling plays are too few and far between. By and large, Hayden has been a train wreck in coverage. And if the Raiders hope to take that next step toward relevance and a possible playoff berth in 2016, they will need to tighten up their defense. They need to tighten it up in the worst way possible.

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If McKenzie is intent on keeping Hayden on the roster next season, switching his position makes sense. With a full offseason of work at the safety spot, we might be surprised by his progress. If Hayden can have some success at a different position, perhaps he’ll learn to play with some confidence again – something that can only benefit the team as a whole.