After agreeing to a new contract to join the Oakland Raiders on the first day of free agency, Rodger Saffold is actually returning to the St. Louis Rams.
Yes. You read that correctly.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Saffold has reached an agreement on a five-year deal to return to the Rams.
The Oakland Raiders reached an agreement with Saffold on a five-year year deal to fill their hole at left tackle after letting Jared Veldheer walk in free agency. However, the Raiders announced that Saffold had failed his physical with the team and would not be signing after all.
Per Schefter, Saffold’s agents Alan Herman and Jared Fox said the Raiders had concerns over the state of Saffold’s shoulder. The Rams had “no concerns whatsoever” about the shoulder and quickly worked to bring him back to St. Louis.
Now the Raiders won’t have Saffold or Veldheer to anchor the left side of the offensive line,
Saffold agreed to a deal worth $42.5 million with $21 million guaranteed on the first day of free agency. It was a large contract for a player 17 games over the past three seasons due to a myriad of injuries that included his knee, pectoral and shoulder.
But the Rams are in a position to know better than anyone where Saffold is with his health as they would have evaluated him during end of season physicals in January.
It’s quite the turn of events for Saffold. The Rams get back a player that started game at left tackle, right tackle and guard for the team last season. The Raiders have to go back to the drawing board on who will handle the blind side of Terrelle Pryor or whomever ends up starting for Oakland next season.