The rumors were right. The Rams did apply the Right of First Refusal contract tender to restricted free agent safety O.J. Atogwe in lieu of bumping up his yearly salary to nearly $7 million.
Rams COO Kevin Demoff oddly broke the news during an online chat. As Florio pointed out this morning, the tender will only last until June 1.
At that point, the Rams will have to release Atogwe or pay the man a hefty one-year salary.
Demoff calls this the first step towards a long-term deal, which Atogwe wants. We suspect the safety actually prefers this tag to others since he can shop his wares around the league.
We also believe the Rams don’t think he’ll get a better long-term deal elsewhere than what they are willing to give the solid safety that lacks a Pro Bowl pedigree.