Now that St. Louis has finished up the task of franchising their standout safety O.J. Atogwe, they’re apparently ready to take care of business with CB Ron Bartell, who has emerged as one of the Rams top players in their secondary, according to Mike Sando (ESPN).

It definitely won’t be easy to accomplish, especially after the Raiders set a new record with the deal they reached with CB Nnamdi Asomugha, but if the Rams have any plans of competing in the pass happy NFC West conference, they’re going to need all the help they can get in their secondary.

Bartell is still raw, but his talent shined through down the stretch last season, leading many in the Rams front office to feel that he should be their top priority headed into the free agency period. That being said, he could likely garner a major contract on the open market, given the lack of talent currently available, so he may wait to see what the market bears before coming back to the table in St. Louis.

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