This afternoon St. Louis Rams safety O.J. Atogwe received a tender offer at the lowest level for a restricted free agent. This move is a moderate gamble by the Rams organization because if the Rams do not match any offer that is received by Atogwe, then they will receive no compensation. The Rams gamble is that they can either sign Atogwe to a long term deal before someone else signs him or that the Rams will match whatever offer that he receives and realize a savings from the almost $7 Million dollar a year contract he would have received had they made a different tender offer to Atogwe.
For Atogwe this is a matter of bad timing. If this were any other year he would probably have been franchised or given a long term deal at a high rate of pay. Atogwe will still probably wind up with a significant deal but there is the possibility that instead of a $7 million dollar deal he could wind up with something in the $4-5 million range for no other reason then he became a free agent in the wrong year.
The move itself is a sign of how weird things are going to be over the next 48 hours in the NFL. Due to this being the last year of the Collective Bargaining Agreement the NFL will operate with totally different set of rules then they have in the past. Because there is no salary cap, or a player salary minimum, teams not only have to evaluate talent but have to evaluate how high, or low, they can go with player salaries. It is going to be an interesting couple days.
Will the Rams make a splash in free agency? Will the Rams sign, or trade for, a quarterback in the next 48 hours. Will the Rams address the wide receiver, tight end or linebacker situation? How will any of this effect the Rams draft strategy? When 11 pm tonight hits the fun and games begin and it could be the most important 48 hours of Billy Devaney's career. The rebuilding of the franchise is about to take some big steps. We'll see if they are forward or back into the abyss.
For more info: Get updates from Rams Park here and instant updates by Twitter here. Also please listen to my reports on The Morning After on 1380 AM or at team1380.net.
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