So we sign Mikell for big money... translates to slap in the face to Atogwe.

I was listening to ESPN radio on XM this afternoon driving home from work and when they were talking about the Eric Weddle contract that was 5yr for 40mil they mentioned Mikell's contract being 4yrs at roughly 28mil it got me thinking over the Atogwe situtation once again. Atogwe busted his assssss for this team year in and year out and was one of the best defensive playmakers in the NFL the last few seasons. He cap hit was what around 5,5 mil correct? What warrents Mikell's 7mil a year contract compared to Atogwe's 5.5??? ANSWER....


MIKELL is Spags boy and I think it is a huge slap in the face to MR.Atogwe!!!!

He wasnt a good fit, he was playing in a system that didnt suite his talent. In spags defense safties are essentially run supporters. Atogwae couldnt wrap up a burrito.... In hasletts d the safty roamed around playing takeaway which he was very good at. Its like trying to force a cirlce block throw a square space.... Aint gonna work and the reason we didnt cut or trade him 2 yrs ago is becuase no one wanted him and if we otright released him we woulda created a hole we couldnt afford to replace at the time

Strong safeties have role in stuffing the run. In Spags's defense, our FS seems to be our SS also, it's basically a prerequisite to be a competent tackler while playing ninja in the trenches to confuse the O-linemen to who should they be covering. The coverage responsibilities mainly go to the CBs and LBs while safeties who can cover well is a consolation prize.

You know Bruce 4 life this is one subject I am kinda still PO'd about. I loved OJ and he did bust his butt on a crappy team and I'd dare say over those years he was one of my favorite Ram players outside of maybe Jackson and Holt/Little. I love watching great safeties work, he had a heck of a ability to find the ball and cause a turnover and EVERY time I seen him in practice or in a game he was punching, pushing, slapping, and ripping the ball out at all times to get our offense the ball back! Used to make me laugh! But facts are facts, OJ didn't fit our scheme like fastcat said he was a circle block and we needed a sqaure one. I will still folow OJ like Suh closely since they are players I'd love/loved to have on this team.

Spags vision of what makes a great defense worked pretty well in SB XLII against the most prolific scoring offense in NFL history, the undefeated Patriots. I'll trust his judgement on this one.

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Originally Posted by bruce4life

He cap hit was what around 5,5 mil correct?

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It's a little more complicated than that. Atogwe was due an $8 million roster bonus last February under his Rams contract. The Redskins signed him to a 5-year, $26 million contract, which works out to a little over $5 million/year...but that also included a $6.5 million roster bonus, $100,000 workout bonus and up to $500,000 as a bonus for games played if he stays healthy all season. So his cap number would fall between $7.5-8 million in the 2011 season even though it's lower in later years.

No my friend Mikell is (a) better fit for the defense that Spags runs & (b) a much better tackler than O.J. is. As far as it being a pure football move, it makes perfect sense.

Don't forget the obvious, as Fliptalionstallion pointed out, Mikell is a strong safety and Atogwe was a free safety. Apples and oranges. What Spags did was upgrade our weak strong safety position. Hopefully, he will be able to do the same at our free safety position. I was fine with Atogwe because of his penchant for getting turnovers. But, his game did have holes in it (i.e., tackling, bad pursuit angles, inconsistent pass coverage). I wish nothing but the best for him. He was there for us when we needed him.

I have ;my doubts if Dahl is gonna play on the FS side....I don't think that will last long...

agreed about OA -- Mikell is different player in different scheme, don't reach to put them together..

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Originally Posted by viper

Don't forget the obvious, as Fliptalionstallion pointed out, Mikell is a strong safety and Atogwe was a free safety. Apples and oranges. What Spags did was upgrade our weak strong safety position. Hopefully, he will be able to do the same at our free safety position.

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I don't think it's quite apples to oranges, as I don't think Spags views the two safety positions as necessarily being separate and unique. He doesn't view the free safety as a center fielding coverage guy, or else they would have retained Atogwe. He views the position as someone who can cover but who can also come up to the line and support the run or even blitz. In that respect, Mikell would fit.

You may be right, Nick. I was thinking from more of a traditional scheme standpoint. I didn't realize that Spags used the safeties interchangably. It will interesting to see our safeties at work this season. It should be fun to watch!