It's not a secret that the Rams are trying to work out a deal with Atogwe, and with this rumor floating around, it could hurt the possibility of a deal getting done. If Atogwe believes he's nothing more than trade bait, he's not going to sign an extension and would instead play out his tender and hope to hit free agency next offseason.
So even if the Rams were interested in McNabb, including Atogwe in this fabricated deal forced Devaney to shoot it down almost immediately and all-but kill any chance of actually making a move for McNabb.
Atogwe is certainly one of the better free safeties in the league, so convincing him to come back to a franchise as poor as the Rams is going to be difficult enough without hack writers in Philly compounding the situation with made-up rumors to generate some web traffic.