Vikings Showed Interest in Atogwe

Upon his release from the St. Louis Rams, veteran safety O.J. Atogwe was on several team's radar screen as a street free agent in February.

The Minnesota Vikings were interested in Atogwe, but Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the 30-year-old safety decided to sign with the Washington Redskins instead.

"There were a lot of teams that showed interest, but maybe a handful of teams that had some serious interest," Atogwe said. "The Vikings were one of the teams, but the timing issue and just where I believe I was being led by God told me to go to the Redskins."

Atogwe signed a five-year, $26 million contract with the Redskins, which as I reported back in March, includes a $6.5 million roster bonus on the 5th day of the 2011 league year and a $900,000 base salary, both of which are fully guaranteed. Atogwe also has $500,000 in per game roster bonuses, and $2 million of his $3.4 million base salary in 2012 is guaranteed for injury.

The maximum value of Atogwe's deal with the Redskins is $31.8 million.