Rams safety will bycott offseason program Brad Biggs
The St. Louis Rams will begin their voluntary offseason workout program on Monday, the earliest allowable starting date in the NFL, but veteran safety Oshiomogho Atogwe will not be volunteering to show up.
Atogwe will attend the NFL Players Association annual meeting in Hawaii, and when he returns he will rehabilitate his shoulder injury suffered at Chicago in December away from the team’s facility, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The report states that Atogwe plans to boycott the entire offseason after being tendered as a restricted free agent at the lowest possible level.
The problem for Atogwe is he was the Rams’ franchise player last season, earning $6.34 million. Under this low tender, he’ll take a pay cut of more than $5 million this season to $1.226 million. Here is a player who other players might want to listen to at the NFLPA convention. Atogwe can make a case that he’s feeling the brunt of the uncapped year and the rules that come with it for free agency more than any other player in the league. Unless the Rams strike a longterm deal for Atogwe or trade him to a team that will do that, it’s difficult to imagine this situation being resolved amicably.
Thomas notes that with the franchise tag, Atogwe fully participated in everything a year ago. The Rams’ strategy in giving Atogwe the low tender could be to have another team come in and sign him to an offer sheet hoping there won’t be a poison pill so the team can then match it. But that could backfire on them. When players sign offer sheets, they’re usually convinced the place they are signing with is their best destination. They typically don’t want to return to their previous team when the process has gone that far. Or it could be the Rams are dangling him in trade.
This is a player that people should listen to in Hawaii next week. He’s the poster boy for how the system is not treating the players fairly, the system agreed to by owners and players.
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This just another missed opportunity by GM Jerry ! He could really make a Splash by signing Otogwe and fill the one big hole left on our defense and then draft a couple of O lineman that Tice and Martz could mold into their system. But they are resting it all on last fridays signings,instead of striking while the iron is hot, and before someone else scoops him up. If he doesn't it willonly expose Lovies Tampa 2 for what it is Obsolete, and Jerry for what he is, a Really Bad GM who can't judge talent and a man without a plan!
This is a guy who has already overachieved in the NFL. He struggled at guard last year, but he is an average center at a below average price. Should be good insurance as the backup center and emergency guard.
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Mar 12, 2010
11:25 AM
How bad is the shoulder? Is that why he hasn't been on any visits? I would think that a player the caliber of Atogwe (translation: way better than Rolle) would be having to tunr down visits for lack of time to see them all.
He is totally getting screwed by the system, but apparently the 200+ RFAs this year that would have been UFAs are not enough to get the Players Association to compromise on some of the points. The owners need to come down on some of their demands too, but the PA has basically told their members to F off for this year.
The Bears would be silly not to at least bring him in to talk. If free safety is your hole on defense, this kid will fill it. Good coverage skills, excellent in run support, solid tackler. With no picks until the 3rd round, we need to treat this like our draft, and we already signed a first rounder in Peppers, and Taylor and Manumaleuna are basically short term band-aids for the positions they play. But we need a second long term solution, and that should be Atogwe. His franchise tender was $6.3million last year. Why not put a deal together for $30mil over 5 years, with $10 mil signing bonus? Atogwe is dying for an offer, so he will likely jump at the first offer sheet he gets to get out of St. Louis. If you put together a similar package to Peppers, where you have a really big salary in year 1, then the Rams will be less likely to match considering they are in the process of being sold.