Four Falcons sign their restricted free agent tenders
Falcons running back # 44 Jason Snelling is tackled by Saints defensive end # 94 Charles Grant as he picks up yardage during 1st half action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com
Four players, two starters and two reserves signed their restricted free agent tender offers on Thursday, the Falcons announced.
Starting right tackle Tyson Clabo, starting right guard Harvey Dahl, backup running back Jason Snelling and backup guard Quinn Ojinnaka signed their tender offers.
“He has enjoyed his time with the Falcons so far and he looks forward to helpiing the team to succeed in the future,” said Scott Smith, Snelling’s agent who is based in Madison, Wis. “He’s really happy there.”
Snelling was tendered at the second round level and will receive a base salary of $1.684 in 2010.
Snelling, a seventh round pick (244th overall) in 2007 from Virginia, rushed for 613 yards on 142 carries last season. He played some fullback and running back as the team was beset with injuries in the backfield.
In the season finale against Tampa Bay, he rushed for 147 yards and helped the Falcons post their first back-to-back winning seasons.
“We were thrilled to see him get those opportunities, especially late in the season,” Smith said. “He had some games where he got quite a few carries. It was real exciting to see him get the opportunity and to see him do different things out of the backfield. We are looking forward to seeing a lot more of that.”
The Falcons also made tender offers to running back Jerious Norwood and punter Michael Koenen.
Clabo and Dahl all have four accrued NFL seasons and received first round tenders. With the first round tender their salary for 2010 will be $2.521 million or 110 percent of their 2009 salary, whichever is greater.
Norwood, who has four accrued years in the league, with the second round tender will receive a salary of $1.759 million or 110 percent of his 2009 salary, whichever is greater.
Ojinnaka also has four accrued NFL seasons, but he received a fifth round tender, the round in which he was drafted. Under his tender, Ojinnaka will received a salary of $1.176 million or 110 percent of his 2009 salary, whichever is greater.
Koenen, who has five accrued NFL seasons, received a second round tender. With that tender, his salary will be $1.809 or 110 percent of his 2009 salary, whichever is greater.
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67 comments Add your comment
Section 108
April 15th, 2010
12:56 pm
First!! SSWweet!
SPS
April 15th, 2010
1:03 pm
Glad to see Snelling signed up. He could be a starter for a lot of teams.
FalconsFan284
April 15th, 2010
1:04 pm
Well, we have our backup RB/FB in da house.
Falcon Devil
April 15th, 2010
1:05 pm
Love Snelling but we don’t need 3 good RB’s. Trade him for a 3rd rounder, with 3 3rds we can move into the 2nd round and get the best OLB and DE available with our 1st two picks. Then grab a OL, WR, DT and DB later.
Fat Ryan
April 15th, 2010
1:13 pm
Snelling stays…Norwood (Mr. Glass) goes
Falcon Devil
April 15th, 2010
1:15 pm
I agree that Norwood is injury prone but Snelling isn’t a change of pace from Turner. Same running style. I prefer the thunder and lightning approach.
Tea Party Protest Sign Spell Checker
April 15th, 2010
1:16 pm
I cant beilive Conan was tendired a 2ns ruonder. Blanks and Dimeatroff must be high!
BFALCON
April 15th, 2010
1:21 pm
DOL, The Falcons need to trade for Haynesworth. Here’s why: Babineaux may get suspended for 4 games, Jerry is injury prone. Big Albert makes players around him better.If you look at film on the Falcons defense teams were able to block the Falcons lineman one on one. That left a free release for the center,guard or fullback to block our linebackers. With Big Albert, he commands a double team every play. With a three man rotation of Big Albert,Jerry and Babineaux the Falcons can really play the type of defense that Smith and BVG want. Remember when Coach Smith was at his peak at Jax, he had John Henderson and M.Stroud. I would give up a 3rd and a 6th for Big Albert.
SC Smith
April 15th, 2010
1:27 pm
Trade for Haynesworth? Yes if the Skins pay most of his crazy salary. He makes QB money and not DT money. You pay that for QB, RB, WR, OT, DE, OLB, & CB’s. But we could use a big DT. And glad Snellings signed., can’t ever have enough backs in this league.
Tweets that mention Jason Snelling signs his restricted free agent tender -- Topsy.com
April 15th, 2010
1:28 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by D. Orlando Ledbetter, ATLHOMER. ATLHOMER said: Atlanta Falcons – RT Jason Snelling signs his restricted free agent tender: Falcons running back # 44 Jason S… http://bit.ly/ayuGFw #AJC [...]
The Dogfighter Returns
April 15th, 2010
1:32 pm
Who is Snelling’s agent? why is he playing for only $2.00 ($1.684)? Why would any football player sign a contract for $1.68 cents?
Falcon Devil
April 15th, 2010
1:33 pm
Alot of Haynesworth salary was paid in his first year. My worry is he doesn’t really care about working hard and has an attitude now that he is paid. Our D line could be arguably the best in the league if we nabbed him though.
FalcFans.com » 2010 Falcons Free Agent Tracker
April 15th, 2010
1:39 pm
[...] – RB Jason Snelling, RFA (1 yr.) (story) 3/9 – CB Brent Grimes, EFA (1 yr.) (story) 3/8 – LS Joe Zelenka, UFA (2 yrs.) (story) [...]
PAPOOH
April 15th, 2010
1:44 pm
trade norwood for a snicker and some bubble gum..
Mike Jay
April 15th, 2010
1:49 pm
Falcon devil,
Snelling is not worth a 3rd rounder in this draft. The best TEe ei nthe game only got a 2nd. Mcnabb only got a 2nd this year and 3-4th next draft. Why would snelling get a third?
Bfalcon,
Trade for Haynsworth? LOL
“Now untradeable
Beyond the intricacies of the option/signing bonus/void and its accounting treatment, the bottom line is that the Redskins gave Haynesworth a check for $21M last week, perhaps the biggest single check written in the NFL this year. So any trade discussions to move Haynesworth this year ended last Wednesday, as an acquiring team would have had to take on that amount or restructure it by that time.
Whatever people think of ‘Skins owner Dan Snyder and his proclivity to spend, no one gives someone $21M to play for someone else.”
For a third and sixth rounder no less? even bigger LOL.
This is not Fantasy football nor an Xbox game.
old man
April 15th, 2010
1:56 pm
I’m told the cap money doesn’t work if you trade Turner, but forgetting the cap considerations for a moment, if you could have Turner/Norwood or Snelling/Spiller, which tandem would you rather have? I would pick Snelling and Spiller.
I agree with Falcon Devil, our two best backs–Turner and Snelling– play the same role. Norwood is not playing well enough to give us a real change of pace threat.
Hollywould
April 15th, 2010
1:58 pm
Good signing/ this guy is a horse. So what if he and Turner are out of the same mold. Mularkey doesn’t have any plays for Norwood or any other back who might have speed. If you are going to run the same plays over and over might as well have 2 horses. Now we need Clabo and Dahl to re-up.
Sun Tzu 7
April 15th, 2010
2:04 pm
Keep Snelling because of his ability to play as an RB or FB.
With the pounding that running backs take you can never have too many of them.
In the NFL you need the kind of depth that Snelling helps provide.
Mike Jay
April 15th, 2010
2:05 pm
Snelling and Turner are not the exact same. Snelling has way more versatility. He can play FB in a pinch (he is an above avg blocker) and can actually catch passes out of the backfield. He is much better third down back than Turner and a much better blocker than Norwood.
Yes the yare booth big runing backs who can punish you but skill sets beyond that are different.
They will NOT trade Turner
Paddy
April 15th, 2010
2:11 pm
Holluwould…….I agree, sign the 2 “Big Uglies” on the line. It all starts with good line play and all teams need experience O linemen if they are to contend. Any team would be happy to have a back-up rb like Snelling. I believe the pieces are starting to come together for TD and coach Smith. And IMHO the change of pace theory on rb’s is way overrated!
SPS
April 15th, 2010
2:12 pm
I could never figure out why they ran Norwood straight up the gut so many times last year. The guy isn’t built for that kind of pounding. No wonder he couldn’t stay healthy.
Mike Jay
April 15th, 2010
2:17 pm
Every RB needs to be capable of running up the middle. There is soo much Speed in the NFL that getting to the corner is nto a sure thing. Bigger chance for negative yard plays on the edge then up the gut. Besides the defense will figure things out pretty quick if your RB only runs to the outside.
he keeps getting hurt because he has two chicken legs
Hollywould
April 15th, 2010
2:20 pm
Mike, what bothers me is why hasn’t Turner been given a chance to catch the ball? I can’t believe he cannot catch a 6 yard swing pass. On trading turner that would be assinine. They signed him for this offense. I do agree Snelling has quicker feet but I like the way he pounds it in there. You need 3 backs these days anyway.
TERRELL OWENS
April 15th, 2010
2:28 pm
sign me!!!! i am way btr than michael jenkins..
Mike Jay
April 15th, 2010
2:30 pm
Holly,
I’m not sure. He never caught anything in SD either. He must have two bricks for hands. He had 5 catches last year and only 22 on his career compared to 782 runs. That is one heck of a disparity. I would imagine that has to be the most lopsided of any starting RB in football. Agreed o nthe fact you need at least 2 quality RB these days. 3 is ideal as you can have two that fit the offesnse and one change of pace/3rd down type.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
April 15th, 2010
2:48 pm
Haynesworth trade????
Marcus
April 15th, 2010
2:56 pm
DOL,
If we could work a trade for WSH DE Andre Carter as safety net for the new guy (whoever we draft next week) and Abe. He could be had for 4.5 mil or less (1/3 is base salary rest is roster bonus) and maybe we can throw in JA98 to the ’skins in exchange.
Josh B
April 15th, 2010
3:06 pm
I think we should trade Norwood somewhere and pick up a more durable back in the draft somewhere, one who could be a 3rd-string back and also a kick returner.
DOL, have the Falcons brought in any RBs to workout before the draft?
bro
April 15th, 2010
3:18 pm
YOU CAN NOT BE FIRST UNLESS YOU ARE THE FIRST TO MAKE A VALID COMMENT. The little note of “first” has no valid statement and thus does not rank as a notworthy comment as requested in the “Add your comment” section. Don’t waste our space or time you invalid squish.
waynester
April 15th, 2010
3:37 pm
Good news! We’re on the right track re-signing our own guys before going nuts in FA…and nuts is exactly right if we’re thinking of some of the names that keep popping up here on this blog like Marshall( thankfully now in MIA) Hayneswoth (cha-ching) Carter, Edwards,Owens, etc. ad infinitum, ad nauseum. We are now a team with a core philosophy of building through the draft–thanks be to G-d! To the poster who said we don’t need 3 RB’s–we’re one injury away from disaster in the backfield. We can’t count on Norwood’s health and the kid from FSU is an unknown quantity. Heaven help us if Mughelli goes down and we have to depend on Haynes. This is another area where some QUALITY depth is really needed. Right now RB is viewed as one of our strengths, but when Turner was injured the truth became readily apparent…
ernisTbass
April 15th, 2010
3:39 pm
Norwood is a slot receiver not a RB, until that is established he will always be hurt
THE TONE
April 15th, 2010
3:46 pm
I agree with whoever said trade norwood kick in a pick and move up and get spiller
I know it wont happen but i see spiller as the ultimate change of pace to turner.
Delbert D.
April 15th, 2010
3:49 pm
Must keep Snelling. He’d be hard to replace for his running ability and special teams skills at that price.
Spiller would be a decent 4th round pick.
Mike Jay
April 15th, 2010
3:52 pm
The Tone,
What would you give up to get your hands on a stud like Norwood? Oh really, nothing you say? What makes you think any other team would? Even we traded our first round pick + Norwood we would be lucky to move up 1 spot in the first round. I mean really, really lucky. In this deep draft Norwood has the trade value equivalent of around a sixth round pick. So please tell me what team would take a 6th round pick and swap first round picks with the Falcons?
allycks
April 15th, 2010
3:58 pm
Snelling was a stud down the stretch last year. He ran all over Tampa in their place in the last game of the season to get us our back-to-back winning seasons. Now let’s put all these pieces in place and win a Super Bowl.
I know we need help at LB and DE but I also hope we draft a WR early so that Jenkins gets demoted or cut.
tjhook
April 15th, 2010
4:08 pm
Much love for the Snelling signing; Norwood has great ability but has proven to be unreliable. Snelling reminds opposing defenses that you better bring your hard hat today. The two-headed bruisers in the backfield make it easier for our receivers to get favorable matchups. (Micheal Jenkins- are you listening?)
mmgtfan
April 15th, 2010
4:45 pm
Dahl Clabo Ojinaka and Snelling have signed. Why not Norwood Dled? What happens now?
BUD
April 15th, 2010
4:59 pm
BFALCON…what are you smoking? Signing Albert Laziworth/Injuriworth is like loaning money to the gov’t…you get nothing in return.
FalconShawn
April 15th, 2010
5:00 pm
DOL, Is that a statement or an actual rumor you heard?
Birrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd Man
April 15th, 2010
5:09 pm
Great news! Snelling is a player. We need more Snellings.
Jim_IT
April 15th, 2010
5:14 pm
Best NFL CBs with some Falcon surprises!!!
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/best-cornerbacks-in-the-n-f-l-the-top-10-list
TEAMPLAYER
April 15th, 2010
5:18 pm
Hey DOL how often does the AJC asks you guys for a new story?…I’m working up here in Ohio for the last two months……and I hate reading the same storys 2, 3, days straight….I want to stay on top of my Falcons……..thanx
Feeder
April 15th, 2010
5:41 pm
Awesome! Glad we locked him up, for now. Now can we discuss trading our 2nd or 3rd round pick from 2011 for Haynesworth? If that’s all it takes to get a “quality veteran,” why aren’t we exploring more trades? Yes, this is a deep draft. Yes building from within is great, but does Jamaal Andersen really show that much promise at DT to play along side Babineaux? RUN DEFENSE is crucial to the Falcons making a solid run at our 1st hoisting of the Lombardi trophy.
HIGHLANDER DAWG
April 15th, 2010
5:58 pm
T.O. IS TERRIBLE AND A CUP CAKE. SIGN ANY PLAYER THAT AINT A GAYTOR!!!!!!!!!! APRIL IS CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH, SO GO LEARN THE TRUTH!!!!
gman
April 15th, 2010
5:59 pm
everybody keeps talking about 3 backs. does anyone know we have a kid name ANTONE SMITH out
of florida state this kid is a well kept secret. and TD wants it to stay that way. so forget a running back
in this draft
waynester
April 15th, 2010
6:18 pm
gman
I mentioned him in my earlier post and as I said he’s an unknown commodity as a pro. He was pretty good in college, but no one other than the coaches have any idea if he’ll make the grade. I really hope so as that represents one less hole on offense, but honestly noone knows.
FalconUGAFan
April 15th, 2010
6:47 pm
Hey DOL, Sorry no football opinion here today, I just wanted to say that I appreciate you working to keep this blog reasonbly civil despite the criticisms you receive on other blogs. And for the record, I think the bowtie is pretty spiffy.
ron
April 15th, 2010
6:54 pm
Does anyone know what happened with Brown from Georgia that was running a close race with Snelling for the backup spot last year?
thunderbull56
April 15th, 2010
6:55 pm
Proof that Hurtwood is also a knucklehead. Am I to understand he has not signed his “Tender” yet? When,if he does, he should be carrying a gun and wearing a ski mask.Mr. potential playmaker a student of Deon Sanders hop around moves, has been stealing from the AFFC for four years now.It’s a bittersweet world and a shame someone like Snelling, with his heart, isn’t a half second faster.
Singletary
April 15th, 2010
7:13 pm
This was ESSENTIAL. What a player; he digs deep to accomplish so much in life. Funny, I truly admire someone half my age.