But, $7M is alot of bread. And, we’ve not had any luck signing veterans to big contracts of late. And then there’s the intangibles. Atog did have 2 separate injuries to deal with. He may be degraded from what we’re used too.

As much as I like Atogwe, I prefer not to have us give him his last big payday. Even if he signs with Detroit and has a stellar year and burns us when we play them, not worth it in our long term strategy.

Do I want him to burn us? NO. But he’ll be ready to prove a point, and so be it. But hey, in 2-3 years Atogwe will be a distant memory in my opinion. Let’s keep our money and allocate it elsewhere.

Played exceptionally well. He isn’t a free agent we grabbed from another team. He’s been here and produced at a higher level than any safety WITHOUT a consistent pass rush or great corners/linebackers. He’s been a lone star with no help, kind of like a Steven Jackson on Defense. You want to talk about intangibles? How about the fact that this guy has come to play each and every single day, not complained about a contract till now, and always played his heart out despite the bullshit that has been the last 3 years. Those are intangibles.

And we’re talking long term? Well how does it make sense that we do NOTHING in Free Agency (for valid reasons, but still nothing), yet we allow a young, extremely productive player who likely has 4-5 more years of production (hell, maybe more. See:Darren Sharper) walk away? Not only that, a guy who has been a leader and a beacon of perserverence despite all of our teams struggles. He’s one guy I can point to and say: “He cared, and he came to do his job everyday.”

If we salivate over what Steven Jackson or Sam Bradford can do with this OL, then we should be thinking about what OJ can do with a pass rush (forthcoming). He’s forced more turnovers than ANYONE the last 3 years despite having one of the weaker pass rushes on the league in front of him. Make no mistake, he IS a game changer. Turnovers change games if your offense is good enough to capitalize. Ours hasn’t been, and that’s probably why some of you don’t appreciate the guy as much.

Anyways, this is a horrible mistake IMO, because the only red-flag anyone has come up with is an injury that he’s likely fully recovered from by now. If I remember correctly, it’s a shoulder injury? L-O-L. Let’s see: let’s put all our bucks into an unproven rookie QB(50 Million Guaranteed, 15 Million A year or so), who had a horrible shoulder injury and whose living and effectiveness DEPEND almost entirely on a SHOULDER. Yes, this is perfectly fine.

On the other hand, we will quibble because our friend OJ, who has given his all and excelled in a shitty environment, produced more turnovers, like the TD stat for QBs, than anyone in the last few years IN THE NFL, because he had a shoulder injury (that he actually could have played with last year in a harness) when his job doesn’t entirely rest on his shoulder, and because he wants to be paid like a top safety in the NFL (which he is).

Seriously guys? A team like this, losing a piece that obviously didn’t care about the money till now, and has always played hard despite it all?

Only our Rams.

We did sign Bartell back when he could have went to the Saints.