The Rams know that tackle Rodger Saffold can play with the shoulder problem that kept the Raiders from signing him to a long-term contract. After all, he played with it all year, after suffering a dislocation in the preseason.
He actually may have suffered the underlying injury years earlier.
Per a league source, Saffold originally suffered a partial tear of his labrum while playing college football at Indiana; that’s quite possibly the injury the Raiders’ doctors detected. Whatever the source of the injury, it was enough to scare the Raiders away.
Some wonder whether the Raiders’ final decision was influenced by the fact that Saffold generally has not been durable. In the last three years, he has missed 17 regular-season games.
The irony, then, is that the injury through which he has played is the one that kept him from getting paid.
Still, the Rams have no qualms about the shoulder injury. But it’s believed his contract there will be structured to ensure that he’ll be paid if/when he is able to play.