
Rodger Saffold
Speaking of overpaid Titans, left guard Rodger Saffold is playing like a guy who isn’t worth one-tenth of his four-year, $44 million contract.
Saffold is getting bulldozed on a regular basis, and the five sacks he has allowed in his first five games as a Titan are two more than he allowed in 16 games with the Los Angeles Rams last season.
We thought Saffold’s early struggles might have something to do with swing tackle Dennis Kelly playing next to him, but I’m sorry I assumed Kelly had anything to do with this garbage. Even with left tackle Taylor Lewan playing next to him on Sunday, Saffold was still a hot mess.
.@PFF directly attributed 3 of the 5 sacks on Mariota:
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) October 7, 2019
-2 to Saffold
-1 to N. Davis
-That's 5 sacks allowed by Safford in 5 games, more than he allowed the last two seasons combined (4).
To make matters worse, Saffold didn’t really take accountability for his poor play, instead saying consistency is “a problem this team has had for a long time.”
UPDATE: This article was written prior to Saffold talking to the media on Monday, so it’s only fair we include this tweet showing Saffold taking responsibility for his poor play this season.
Rodger Saffold admits his play has dropped off some. It's clearly bothering him. Says he is taking responsibility for his struggles. Won't blame anyone else. Feels it's definitely fixable. #Titans
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) October 7, 2019
END OF UPDATE
That might be the case, but weren’t you paid good money to help solve that issue and not add to it? Because you’re definitely adding to it.
Maybe Saffold should worry less about making fashion statements and more about, you know, actually doing his job. Right now, it seems like Saffold got the last big contract of his career and is already checking out.
Whatever the case may be, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the Titans make a change and input Kelly in his spot. Of course, doing so would be a blatant admission of failure by general manager Jon Robinson, and I’m not sure he’s ready to go there quite yet.
Hoping to see Saffold sent packing sooner rather than later? The Titans don’t have an out with their starting left guard until 2021, when they can accept a $4.75 million dead cap hit to let him go. That’s right, we have to keep putting up with this.