The St. Louis Rams announced that they have reached a multi-year contract agreement with free agent safety O.J. Atogwe.

No financial terms were disclosed.

"We are excited to have O.J. back in the fold," Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "We were always hopeful for this result. We look forward to having his leadership, character and talent back on our defense."

A third-round pick (66th overall) out of Stanford by the Rams in 2005, Atogwe (5-11, 210) started 60 straight games before injuring his shoulder late last season. In 72 games overall, Atogwe has 317 tackles, 3 quarterback sacks, and 19 interceptions, with 29 pass break-ups and 14 forced fumbles.

Atogwe, who turns 29 years old today, played the 2009 season under the one-year franchise tag, which paid him $6.342 million dollars in base salary. The Rams had limited Atogwe's free agent movement this off-season by extending a "Right of First Refusal" tender on the restricted free agent. St. Louis needed to upgrade the tender to 110% of his previous year's base salary ($6.976M) by June 1, which the Rams opted not to do, making Atogwe a free agent.

Re-signing with the Rams has always been the expected result for Atogwe this off-season, as several teams with perceived needs at the position quickly asserted that they were not interested when he became available.

"I’m at peace," Atogwe told the team's official website. "I am very excited to be coming back. It was a long drawn out process but I believe it was supposed to be that way just so that the right decision could be made. I believe and am thankful that the right decision was made."

Atogwe is expected to resume his duties as the Rams' starting free safety, playing alongside James Butler.