Friday, February 20, 2009

Oshiomogho Atogwe slapped with the franchise tag

Although they will continue to negotiate on a long-term deal, the Rams have decided to place the franchise tag on free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe, according to team sources.

Atogwe thus counts $6.34 million against the Rams' salary cap, a figure that represents the average of the five highest-paid safeties in the NFL. Atogwe has been designated as what's known as the "non-exclusive" franchise player, meaning he can talk to and negotiate with other teams. But the Rams would get two first-round draft picks as compensation from the team that signs Atogwe if he goes elsewhere.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Rams released Corey Chavous

Corey ChavousThe Rams made the first of what figures to be many roster-shaping moves, releasing veteran strong safety Corey Chavous on February 13,2009. The move saves the Rams $1.2 million in salary cap space.

Monday, February 9, 2009

My Overview on the Rams Free Agency



With a new headcoaching staff and two new personnel for the purpose of handling the salarycap, the Rams enter free agency with a modest $14 million under the 2009 salary cap ceiling of $123 million. But this not enough considering the Rams' rookie salary amounts to about $6 million this year.

Here are some scenarios we can ponder on:

-Trading, releasing or restructuring the contracts of Torry Holt and Orlando Pace. This has been the rumors and speculation around the internet if these two Pro Bowlers are to be traded or release, the Rams would save a combined value of $14 million on the salary cap.

My speculation on this is that Big O is most likely willing to restructure because he loves to play as a Rams ( as evident on firing of his previous agent who has almost created a strain bewteen him and the Rams for stonewalling for more money) on the other hand Torry Holt, has previously express he might end up play for another team before his career ends (and expresses playing for his hometown team the Carolina Panthers) well I might be wrong and Torry should help the team restructuring his contract.

-Retaining Atogwe and Bartell is a priority. There are some reports that the Rams are focusing most of their money to retain O.J. Atogwe and Ron Bartell with Atogwe possibilty gonna get the francise tag. well I don't fault the Rams for doing so as Atogwe is the Rams best defensive player.

- Letting go of the underachievers and past-prime players. This one might get some attention as most of you might agree with me on this one. WR Drew Bennett and LB Pisa Tinoisamoa (frequent injuries), DT Claude Wroten (suspension), S Corey Chavous and DT La'Rio Glover (age). Of the aformention names, I might give Pisa Tinoisamoa some considerations of retaining as he has really contributed to the team but the rest won't matter if they are let go.

-Improvement on the O-line and Run Defense. This one is obviously the main goal of the Rams this offseason. If the Rams can get their clear answer on the free agency , the #2 pick on the draft will most like go on either an OT, WR or a trade down for a MLB.

More on this

Friday, February 6, 2009

Offseason Projections

The Rams should enter the free agency with focus on filling the major needs before supplementing the rest of the team needs in the upcoming draft. The major focus will be solidifying the Offensive lines specially with Orlando Pace and Jacob Bell coming off from injuries as well as Alex Barron's inconsistencies.

Aside from the offensive line, the Rams needs to improve their run defense as most opponent exploited the Rams inability to stop the run last season. Hopefully the Rams can get someone who could replace the aging safety Corey Chavous. The Rams should also try to keep O.J. Atogwe as he's one of the best on his position.

ome free agency, expect the Rams to sign free agents to fill in those major holes for now and hopefully the get the best available .