Posted by Josh Katzowitz

If former Rams S Oshiomogho Atogwe is a little frustrated – make that, very frustrated – it’d be hard to blame him. Atogwe is more than solid (in fact, he’s probably one of the better safeties in the NFC), but, as Will pointed out the other day, St. Louis released him rather than pay him the $8 million roster bonus they would have owed to him Monday.

Makes sense for the Rams, I suppose, especially with the unknown labor situation. But Atogwe spoke with the St. Louis Post Dispatch and said it wouldn’t be a shock if he returned to the Rams once again. Actually, he’d probably welcome another chance with St. Louis.

"My agent and myself have established a really good negotiating relationship with them, so were we to do something again (with the Rams), I don't believe it'd be a difficult task," Atogwe told the paper. "Because there's no bad blood there. We should be able to get something done."

Atogwe is coming off another solid year (73 tackles, three interceptions, nine passes defended), but he’s a little upset that, after six years in the league, he still can’t find a long-term deal.

Witness: he was franchise-tagged following the 2008 season, and then, because of the crazy labor scenario and the uncapped year, he reverted back to being a restricted free agent for 2010. Obviously he makes pretty good money (his base salary for 2010 was $2.1 million, and he was due to make $3.5 million in 2011, plus the rather large roster bonus), but for a man of his talent and production, he’s underpaid.

Yet, he was named the team’s defensive captain for 2010 (as voted on by his teammates), and it sounds like he’d like to return to the Rams. Unless, I suppose, he gets much more money from somebody else. Which, assuming because he hasn’t had much luck signing that elusive long-term deal, means he probably won’t.

"I think that's why it's very important for us to really get a CBA done, in place and secure, so that other guys won't have to go through a similar situation as myself,” Atogwe said. “And that the teams can really move on in paying their Bills and grow for the long term. But for me it's definitely frustrating. I'm thankful that I still have peace throughout this, knowing that it's going to work out the way it's supposed to."

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Posted by Will Brinson

OJ Atogwe was set to become a very rich(er) man on February 21, as he was due an $8 million roster bonus from the Rams on that date. Unfortunately for Atogwe, the Rams released him on Friday.

Atogwe's the third big-name safety dumped in the past few hours -- the Colts released Bob Sanders earlier in the day and the Texans cut Eugene Wilson -- but his release isn't surprising because of the big chunk of change the Rams owed him.

It could be considered a bit odd, though, as the Rams signed him just last season to a $32 million, five-year deal.

Brian McIntyre reports that Atogwe had a "Valentine's Day Massacre" clause in his contract that allowed him to void the deal before the Rams cut him by alerting the team before February 14. Obviously, Atogwe wasn't going to that, and it left St. Louis with no real choice other than releasing him.

Atogwe might even have a better shot at finding work than Sanders, if only because the former Colt is considered a tremendous health risk, whereas Atogwe's been fairly reliable since being drafted by St. Louis in 2005.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Former Rams G Claude Terrell, who last played in 2007, has been accused of beating and forcing sex on a Texas woman at gunpoint during a seven-hour incident Monday.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Terrell was arrested on assault charges Nov. 19 against the same woman. On Monday, police say, he waited until after the woman dropped off her kids at school and returned to her apartment before he attacked her with a .38-caliber handgun he had found in her home.

Then, from about 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., he held her against her will, beating her and sexually assaulting her, police say.

From the story:

Terrell remains in the Galveston County jail with bail set at $600,000 on the latest charges: burglary with intended sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping, each a felony carrying a sentence of from five to 99 years imprisonment or life. He also is charged with enhanced family violence with a sentence ranging from two to 10 years.

He played only two years in St. Louis, starting 13 of 20 total games, before the Rams dropped him in 2007 after he was arrested and charged with assaulting his wife.

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Posted by Will Brinson

DALLAS -- Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh were named the 2010 AP Rookies of the Year on Friday night.

The announcement hardly comes as a surprise -- Bradford broke several of Peyton Manning's rookie records en route to passing for 3,512 yards, 18 touchdowns (to 15 interceptions) and a 76.5 QB rating while completing 60 percent of his passes. More importantly, perhaps, was his strong play during the middle of the season -- over a six-game stretch, Bradford threw 11 touchdowns to just two interceptions as the Rams picked up four of their seven wins in 2010. And he did all this while throwing to a wide receiver corps that was about as far from elite as it came in the NFL this season.

Suh piled up 10 sacks, 66 total tackles and one interception in his first season. While the Lions didn't have as much success, his front-seven disruption showed why he was the No. 2 overall choice in last year's draft (behind only Bradford) and hinted as to the damage he could do in the future under Jim Schwartz' tutelage.

[More Super Bowl coverage]



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Posted by Andy Benoit


Retaining Darren Sproles in 2011 could be tough for San Diego.


Titans wide receiver coach Fred Graves has joined the Panthers staff. Graves coached Steve Smith at Utah.


More Panthers assistant coach news: running back coach Jim Skipper, despite his catchy name, will not be brought back. .


Not surprisingly, Super Bowl winning teams tend to send more players to the Hall of Fame.


The NFLPA has issued a “Let Us Player” video over the internet.

A new offseason means the renewal of a Vincent Jackson to the Rams? discussion.


Andy Reid’s youngest son gave a verbal commitment to play football at Temple.


Hue Jackson has been referring to Al Davis as “Coach Davis”.


Bernard Berrian admits that the alleged extortion attempt was a distraction.


National Weather Service is advising Packer fans to wait until Wednesday to leave for Dallas.


The Onion has some fun with Carson Palmer and the Bengals.


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Posted by Will Brinson



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• BlackBookMag has a superb and (potentially NSFW because of language) story about Bill Murray at the Chicago Bears NFC Championship game last Sunday. Basically, a Packers fan in Chicago was cheering for his team really loudly and got shoved in the back. He turned around to find Murray cackling at him and later saying some awkward stuff. It's par for the course for Murray, but thankfully there's picture proof.

• Darren Rovell points out that Brett Keisel of the Pittsburgh Steelers (and owner of the best beard in sports, and maybe the world) is slinging some pretty fantastic shirts over at "FearKeisel.com."

• Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports has the South All-Stars and North All-Stars from the week of practice at the Senior Bowl.

• Something in this Jim Zorn/Cam Cameron/Baltimore Ravens thing ain't stirring the Kool-Aid.

• Unfortunately for the Chargers, there was only one option for "this day in Chargers history." Because it's a bad one.

• Turf Show Times takes a look at the Rams history with drafting small school prospects.

• Pittsburgh showed up quite nicely to show the Steelers off to the Super Bowl.

• Vince Wilfork is not a very good fisherman, apparently.

• The Fifth Down Blog at The New York Times has a nice little Q & A with Nevada QB Colin Kapernick, whose stock's been skyrocking the last couple of days.

• Speaking of Super Bowl parties, the Packers will have theirs at Lambeau Field on February 8. If they win.

Posted by Andy Benoit

The St. Louis Rams have announced that Josh McDaniels is their new offensive coordinator. He replaced Pat Shurmur, who took the head coaching job in Cleveland.

It was believed that talks were breaking down between McDaniels and the Rams. However, all that likely meant was the former Broncos head coach, who started flirting with the Seattle Seahawks after they fired Jeremy Bates, was posturing for more money.

It will be money well spent if McDaniels does for Sam Bradford what he did for Matt Cassel. (And before Cassel, to a certain extent, Tom Brady.) But just because McDaniels is considered one of the best young offensive coaches in the game doesn’t mean this move is without risk for St. Louis.

Bradford spent his entire rookie season learning the West Coast offense. That will now be scrapped for McDaniels’ shotgun, spread-based scheme. It’s not an easy system to learn (neither was the West Coast, by the way). The Rams would not essentially nullify their franchise signalcaller's year’s worth of work for in the more common West Coast system if they didn’t believe they could build a long-term foundation with McDaniels’ scheme.

Just like in New England, McDaniels will have an opportunity to make his mark as a nearly-autonomous leader of the offense. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo devotes most of his energy to the defense.

McDaniels’ decision to go to St. Louis should trigger the final offensive coordinator hirings around the NFL, as the top prospect is off the market. The biggest name out there is now Brad Childress. As we wrote yesterday, McDaniels to St. Louis could have a considerable impact on the former Vikings head coach.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

With every head coaching vacancy filled sans the Raiders’ (of course), the most interesting coaching move question now becomes, Where will Josh McDaniels go? It has long been assumed that the former Broncos head coach would wind up as the offensive coordinator in Minnesota. (Darrell Bevell is technically still on the payroll, though he has been told to look for work elsewhere in 2011.)

McDaniels interviewed with Leslie Frazier & Co. at Winter Park last week. But Frazier’s hiring process has been somewhat diligent (euphemism for slow). As Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune points out, the Browns’ hiring of Pat Shurmur as head coach on Thursday has now opened up St. Louis as another potential landing spot for McDaniels.

Hiring McDaniels would mean forcing young franchise quarterback to learn a new system (the Rams ran a West Coast offense under Shurmur; McDaniels operates what could best be described as a shotgun spread passing game). If the Rams wanted to keep Bradford in the West Coast, they could give former Vikings head coach Brad Childress a look. Childress and Steve Spagnuolo are good friends. 

It's worth noting that Childress recently interviewed for the vacant Dolphins offensive coordinator job. The other offensive coordinator job that is open is in Kansas City, though it’s doubtful that any aspiring head coach (McDaniels especially) will want to go work for Todd Haley.

Of the available offensive coordinator jobs, St. Louis is now the most attractive. The Rams are led by a defensive coach, so whoever oversees the offense would have near autonomy. The only other job with that particular appeal is Minnesota, which doesn't come with a blossoming franchise quarterback.

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