Atogwe Not Signing Tender
By Justin Stine
In a piece of “OMG” news, Rams safety Oshiomogho “Don’t Call Me OJ” Atogwe won’t sign the low tender offer from the team. The tender would have paid OJ $1.226 million next season, which is significantly less than he made last year. The team now holds the option of offering the safety 110 percent of his salary, which amounts to about $7 million, to retain his rights for 2010. We all knew that he wasn’t going to sign the tender, and the Rams still plan to try to work out a long-term deal before the June 1 deadline. I really hope the team can get something worked out here, because this is exactly the kind of guy we need to lock up. He is a dynamic playmaker, and there is serious potential that he could be a perennial Pro Bowler before it is all said and done. Billy D and Coach Spags keep talking about the importance of adding playmakers to the roster, and Atogwe is the best we have outside of Steven. If we are serious about building a winner, there is no way we can let this guy go.
In another piece of news, the trade has finally been made official and Bobby Carpenter is now a member of the Rams. We knew this was pretty much a done deal as well, so no one should be shocked. Carpenter did a few interviews with the local media today, and he sounds like a pretty cool guy. It doesn’t really matter how cool he is if he can’t perform on the field, but he sounded confident that he will fit in nicely in St. Louis. I am excited to see what he can do in a new system.
Moving to some non-Rams news, I started a new job today so my posts may be a bit erratic until I get my schedule figured out. Have no fear, as I will still be bringing the latest Rams news, but look for posts either earlier in the day or, much like tonight, extremely late. Bear with me, and we will keep this thing rolling forward.