The hole at free safety

Time for an overdue post mortem of the deal that OJ Atogwe got from the Redskins: he got a 5-year, $26 million contract. He gets about $1 million in salary in 2011 and a $7 million roster bonus. He averages around $4.5 million in salary and bonuses for the remaining four years, at least some of which he's never likely to see, as he'll be 35 by the end of the deal.

As Jim Thomas pointed out, the $8 million Atogwe will get from Washington in 2011 is the same amount as the roster bonus he was due from the Rams in February that led them to cut him in the first place. The Rams didn't get scooped, or outbargained here, nor did they screw up. They were never going to offer Atogwe as much as Washington did. So, strictly in terms of losing the 30-year-old Atogwe, I won't accuse the Rams front office of making a blunder. Atogwe wanted to be somewhere he'd make more money, have more job security and be a better fit in the defense. It's a free country, and RamView wishes him all the best in 15 of next year's games, while noting he's moved to a worse team, with a worse, overrated, defensive coordinator. : )

But even if they didn't blunder in failing to keep Atogwe, the Rams still may blunder the situation if they don't have an adequate replacement. Which gives reason for pause, because in an interview earlier this week, Steve Spagnuolo expressed the thought that JAMES BUTLER could still do the job. Forget his dismal, injury-filled 2010; Butler was awful when he was healthy the year before! Chrissakes, why not just bring back Jason Sehorn?

Hopefully Billy Devaney will weigh in better. Darian Stewart played well in flashes in 2010, but with Craig Dahl already in the backfield, the Rams' safety corps is quite weak in pass coverage already, and that's before you consider Dahl's injury-riddled career and Stewart's rawness.

Whether it's converting a Jerome Murphy to safety, adding a veteran free agent or finding a steal in a draft that't not really strong at the position, the 2011 Rams are going to need a real infusion of talent at safety, or the end result of the Atogwe deal will be lots of long opposition TD passes, each one a painful shot in the foot from the Rams' own gun.