Friday, March 5, 2010
The Rams on Thursday tendered safety Oshiomogho Atogwe at the lowest tender for restricted free agents with his experience, but the team views it as the opportunity for him to gauge his value from other teams.
The Rams have been trying to reach a long-term agreement with Atogwe since last year when he was the team’s franchise player, but Kevin Demoff, the Rams executive vice president of football operations/chief operating officer, said, “I have met numerous times with his representative at the combine and Senior Bowl and they knew we weren’t going to franchise him again. We just haven’t been able to agree on his value. We are hoping market forces come into play and help get a deal done.”
Atogwe played under the franchise tender of $6.342 million last year when he could have been an unrestricted free agent. The current situation is made possible by virtue of the uncapped year that is beginning Friday. Had the previous system continued, the Rams would have been forced to franchise him again at 120 percent of his 2009 salary, re-sign him to an acceptable multiyear contract or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent.
However, with unrestricted free agency moving from four accrued seasons to six, Atogwe became restricted instead of unrestricted.
If the Rams had tendered him at $6.976 million, which is 110 percent of his 2009 salary, they could have picked compensation of either a first- and third-round pick; first-round pick or second-round pick. That can serve to deter teams from making offers. By tendering Atogwe at $1.226 million with no compensation, the feeling is other teams might be more willing to negotiate with him. Any offer can be matched by the Rams.
Added Demoff, “We hope this is the beginning of the process, not the end. We hope to get a long-term deal done with him. But he should be excited about this and the opportunity it might provide him. He’s a class individual, a class player and I hope he is here.”
Until April 15, Atogwe can talk to other teams about a contract, and one offer sheet can be presented to the Rams, who would then have seven days to decide whether to match it.
If he doesn’t receive any offers, the Rams then have until June 1 to increase his tender to $6.976 million. If they do that, the team retains exclusive rights to him while still being able to negotiate a long-term deal.
If they don’t offer that tender, Atogwe would become an unrestricted free agent.
The Rams’ offseason program begins March 15, and Atogwe is currently rehabbing in California after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Rams agree with Feeley
As the new league year opened today, the Rams agreed to terms on a two-year contract with quarterback A.J. Feeley, who became an unrestricted free agent with the Carolina Panthers. Feeley (6-3, 220) was released by the Philadelphia Eagles in the cutdown to 53 players last season, and then signed with the Panthers on Sept. 15.
He was active for five of the 15 games he was with the Panthers, but did not play. For his career, which has also included stops in Philadelphia, Miami and San Diego, the soon-to-be 33-year-old Feeley (May 16) has completed 55.9 percent of his passes with a passer rating of 69.6. He does have a familiarity with Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur from their time together with the Eagles.
Rams make cuts
Tight end Derek Fine's time on the Rams' roster lasted all of 16 days. Claimed on waivers from Buffalo on Feb. 17, the Rams waived Fine yesterday. The Rams also terminated the contract of defensive tackle LaJuan Ramsey. Former defensive tackle Claude Wroten, who was waived Wednesday by the Rams, cleared waivers Thursday and is now a free agent, although he remains on the league suspended list.
Final tender decisions for restricted free agents
Late Thursday, the Rams made their decisions on safety Craig Dahl, tight end Daniel Fells and defensive tackle Gary Gibson.
Somewhat surprisingly, Dahl was given the lowest tender of $1.101 million, which provides no compensation for the Rams if they are presented an offer sheet and don't match it. A tender of $1.684 million would have resulted in compensation of a second-round pick. However, the tender turned out to be a formality when Dalh agreed to terms on a three-year contract Friday afternoon.
Fells and Gibson were not tendered, making them free agents. The Rams are said to have interest in re-signing both, but not at the higher restricted free-agent tenders. The league minimum salary for Fells is $545,000 and is $630,000 for Gibson. Both ended the 2009 season on injured reserve.
When midnight struck Thursday, there were 216 restricted free agents in the NFL, and 60.2 percent received tenders of at least a second-round pick. There were 83 players with second-round compensation, 26 with first-round compensation and 21 with first- and third-round compensation.
The Rams did not tender eight of their potential restricted free agents: Fells, Gibson, safety Eric Bassey, running back Samkon Gado, wide receiver Ruvell Martin, long snapper Ryan Neill, guard Mark Setterstrom and cornerback Jonathan Wade. League-wide there were 76 potential restricted free agents that did not receive tenders.
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