The Oakland Raiders have found themselves at the center of the most bizarre story of the NFL offseason, which will not surprise anyone. They agreed to a contract with offensive lineman Rodger Saffold earlier this week only to call the deal off on Wednesday when Saffold failed his physical with the team. What the heck happened?
Saffold, who is now set to re-sign with the St. Louis Rams, suffered a dislocated shoulder in a preseason game on Aug. 8. He sat out the second preseason game but was back in time for the regular season. The 25-year-old has missed 17 games in the past three seasons, but his shoulder was said to be fine. The Raiders and team owner Mark Davis apparently disagreed.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Silver, Davis is the one who pulled the plug on the Saffold deal. Saffold left St. Louis on good terms, so his agents had called Rams executive vice president Kevin Demoff to help clarify the shoulder situation. Demoff assured Saffold’s agent, Kevin Herman, that a specialist had double-checked Saffold’s MRI results and that his shoulder was fine.
“We had him examined prior to the start of the season,” Herman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And he was fine. The Rams physicians thought he was fine, and he played and he played great. Rodger told us that the Raiders’ doctor examined him and said, ‘You’re fine.'”
After that, Herman said Saffold was told by the team that he needs immediate surgery to correct his shoulder. As Silver noted, Davis was reportedly told that Saffold could have the surgery and be ready in time for training camp. He still nixed the deal.
Herman said that Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie apologized to him several times after the deal fell through. The Rams are apparently not concerned about a player who spent the entire 2013 season with them, because they are gladly bringing Saffold back. Perhaps Davis got cold feet and realized at the last second that Saffold wasn’t worth the $42.5 million the Raiders had agreed to pay him.
