Rodger Saffold
Original contract: Four years, $44 million (Three years remaining)
2020 cap hit: $12.3 million
Rodger Saffold‘s Titans tenure did not get off to a good start, but he definitely turned things around as the season progressed. In fact, he was an absolute monster upfront and looked dominant in the second half of the season, particularly in the run game.
There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell Saffold would be willing to take a pay cut with that being the case, and cutting him certainly isn’t an option, especially given the fact that he carries a dead cap number of $13.1 million in 2020.
The only option for restructuring his deal would be to take the same approach that we mentioned with Lewan, which would be to push some of his 2019 money to later years. Even then, Saffold will be 32 next season and Tennessee would be risking paying the veteran a huge sums of money down the road that he might not be worth if he shows decline.
Tennessee is going to have to ride out Saffold’s contract for at least another season, but that’s OK considering he proved his worth in 2019. Saffold carries dead cap numbers of $4.7 million in 2021 and $2.3 million in 2022.