Oakland Raiders ‘likely’ landing spot for Rodger Saffold, Miami Dolphins not
St. Louis Rams tackle Rodger Saffold (76) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. St. Louis Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Hopefully the Oakland Raiders are able to re-sign star left tackle Jared Veldheer, who is arguably one of the top five free agents available and my second-ranked free agent tackle behind only Eugene Monroe of the Baltimore Ravens. If the Raiders are unable to re-sign Veldheer, then most of the smoke has them signing St. Louis Rams guard/tackle Rodger Saffold, who will be testing the free agent market tomorrow after talks with the Rams were not successful (as expected). Saffold has always seemed to be dead-set on hitting the open market and being paid like a left tackle, and it looks like he will be an LT next year. The Rams really wanted him back as a starting guard, as they prioritized him. Now, it will be interesting to see if they are able to re-sign fellow impending free agent guard Shelley Smith, who played well last season, and if they decide against releasing Harvey Dahl.
The Miami Herald’s Armando Salguero reports that the Oakland Raiders are the “likely” option to re-sign Rodger Saffold, and this isn’t a surprising development at all. They have the cap space to sign him as Veldheer’s replacement, and they are prepared to give him a big offer to play left tackle. It’s better for them to re-sign Veldheer, but Saffold is a very good “Plan B”, as long as they don’t end up paying him Veldheer-type money.
Anyway, the Miami Dolphins, as Salguero reported earlier, are set to sign star left tackle Branden Albert tomorrow, and he would be a massive upgrade for a team desperate for offensive line upgrades. The Dolphins will almost certainly pursue more upgrades on the OL, but it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen. With Albert likely locked in as the starting LT on a big contract, Saffold would have to play guard or right tackle, and Salguero reports that this is “unlikely”.