Two days after the league placed Falcons defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman on the Commissioner’s Exempt list, the Falcons have placed Hageman on waivers.
The team announced the decision to move on from the 2014 second-round pick on Monday morning.
“The organizational decision to move forward without Hageman was made by the Falcons after a thorough investigative process by local authorities,” the team said.
Surely, the prospect of paying Hageman while the league determines whether and to what extent he’ll be suspended without pay was a factor, too. That’s one of the unfortunate realities of the league’s fairly new habit of placing certain players on paid leave while they deal with criminal charges and/or await formal discipline from the league office. If the player isn’t deemed to be worth an indefinite period of money for nothing, the team will cut the cord.
Hageman’s status makes it unlikely anyone will claim him on waivers. Why pay him $19,500 per week while the league determines on the number of weeks he’ll miss after that?