St. Louis Rams left tackle Rodger Saffold is not happy with the fact that he has been moved to right tackle, and the Rams, in fact, couldn’t get ahold of him in the aftermath of the Jake Long signing. Saffold is in the final year of his rookie contract and is set to make $655,000 in base salary with a $225,000 roster bonus, but his issue is with being shifted to right tackle after the Rams signed Long, who they definitely signed to play left tackle (especially given the money involved).
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Rams head coach Jeff Fisher was optimistic on the Rams ability to get things resolved with Saffold, but it has actually been Saffold’s willingness to not hold out that has avoided a major issue. Saffold is not going to hold out despite being disappointed with the move to right tackle, and he’ll want to receive big left tackle money when he hits the free agent market next offseason. Such is the nature of the business, the blindside protectors receive the big bucks.
Saffold is playing things pretty classy, all told, or maybe he just realizes that he has little leverage at this point (the team almost always holds the leverage in these cases). According to the Rams official site, Saffold has reported to the team’s first voluntary offseason workouts today, and it’s not often that a disappointed player shows up for voluntary workouts. The Rams are expected to shop Saffold and see what they can get out of him, which is reportedly expected to be a mid-round pick.
It is apparent that Saffold is not going to try and skip out of anything this offseason, as his agents stated recently that Saffold would attend OTAs and all offseason functions. I doubt he goes anywhere this season, and Saffold will most likely play out his final year with the Rams before getting paid like a left tackle in free agency. The Rams have little reason to trade him, and he, as stated earlier, doesn’t hold any leverage going into a contract year. Really, the only way I can see Saffold not playing for the Rams next year is if the Rams get a trade offer they cannot turn down. I highly doubt he receives an extension from the Rams.
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