At some point during the offseason, the Tennessee Titans will cut players from their roster to free up salary cap space.
The Titans are currently over the cap by approximately $7 million. They have a number of free agents to consider retaining, and will no doubt look for help in the free-agent market.
Rodger Saffold is a player who has a strong chance of being a cap casualty this offseason. He is set to make $12.9 million in 2022, but the Titans can save $10.5 million by releasing him.
In a recent article predicting the most surprising cuts of the 2022 offseason, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport lists Saffold, although it wouldn’t be that surprising if he was cut.
“To be fair, Saffold had a solid season in 2021. Despite battling nagging injuries, the 33-year-old played in 15 games, surrendering a pair of sacks over 853 snaps, per PFF. It was an improvement over 2020, when Saffold gave up twice as many sacks on a similar snap count.
“But Saffold’s Pro Bowl nod was as much a lifetime achievement award as an indication of his level of play in 2021. He’s a very good, veteran guard. But he’s not a great one.
“And with Saffold carrying a cap hit of almost $13 million in 2022 and Tennessee sitting upward of $8 million in the red, paying a good guard great money may be a luxury the Titans just can’t afford.”
Per PFF, Saffold, who earned his first Pro Bowl appearance as an injury replacement, graded well in run-blocking (73.9), but he struggled in pass protection, where he earned a grade of 46.7, the lowest of any Titans starter.
Another issue was health. He played in 15 games but was frequently being tended to by the Titans’ training staff, and sometimes multiple times per game.
At 33 years of age, combined with his regression in pass-blocking and the Titans’ need to free up more money, Saffold could be on his way out in Tennessee.
