Lockout, schmockout, nothing gets in the way of the Washington Redskins winning the month of March.
Just hours before the Thursday night deadline to sign the limited free agents available, the team fired up Redskins One and jetted in a free agent — signing safety O.J. Atogwe.
Well, maybe not Redskins One. This was hardly an Albert Haynesworth $100 million celebration of excess. Right now, it would seem that the signing of Atogwe — reportedly for five years at $26 million, with $9 million guaranteed — is at least a financially sound move.
Maybe they’re using a Cessna prop plane under the Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan regime.
When the news first came out about the Atogwe deal, it resurrected all the jokes about how the Redskins always win the month of March. And the jokes are valid, given some of the foolish overspending that has taken place in the past.
And it certainly does seem humorous — or painful, if you are a Redskins fan — that Washington still managed to make one of the biggest free agent deals in the small window available for free agent signings until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.
But once you get past the past — in other words, recognizing that it is Allen and Shanahan making the free agent moves now and not former vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato and owner Daniel Snyder (hopefully)– the Atogwe signing seems at the very least a reasonable move and perhaps a good one.
Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, now writing for the National Football Post Web site, believes it was a smart move.
“I see the former Rams free safety as an immediate upgrade to the Redskins’ defense,” Bowen wrote and continued that the signing is a key to “seeing solid defensive football in Washington.”
There is little argument that Atogwe, considered a play maker for St. Louis (22 interceptions in six years), is a step up from Kareem Moore, who was a disappointment last season after being handed the job in training camp. And it stops the conjecture that somehow young cornerback Kevin Barnes could fit into the position, which he played at the end of last season.
And it certainly gives the Redskins a formidable one-two punch at safety with strong safety LaRon Landry, who made a case for NFL Defensive Player of the Year before he was sidelined with injuries to his Achilles’ heel and wrist.
However, Atogwe will be 30 years old when he takes the field for Washington (if there is a 2011 season). When Landry becomes a free agent the following year, the team will need to lock up a lot of money in the safety position if they want to keep Landry.
On the merits of the deal, though, it looks as if while the Redskins are leading the league again in the month of March, it may not be at a cost of looking foolish once again in December — at least not because of this move.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
