Is Rodger Saffold Moving On?

Things are starting to settle into place for free agency. We've been hearing rumblings all weekend about the Rams (both players leaving and possible additions). But now, it seems as though Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun has an inside scoop on Rodger Saffold:

St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Rodger Saffold is expected to sign with the Oakland Raiders for roughly $8 million per year, but he is still in talks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If that figure made you blink, you wouldn't be the only one. It looks as thought the tackle market is right around that range, but you never know with the reasonable Oakland Raiders. Of course, a bidding war with Tampa Bay is sure to up the price even more.

His injury history would make you pause before investing that much in a guard (or tackle), but with free agency, rationality is thrown out the window in favor of blank checks. Is he worth that much to the Rams? Probably not. Is he worth that much to anyone? Matt Miller certainly doesn't think so:

Let me just say this now: $8M per year for Rodger Saffold is not smart for any team. But hey, get paid while you can.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 10, 2014

And so it begins.

Update 1:

It looks like Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch is hearing the same thing. This time, however, the news comes from Alan Herman, Saffold's agent:

"We spoke with Kevin Demoff numerous times over the weekend," the agent, Alan Herman, told the Post-Dispatch on Sunday evening. "But we're probably going to move in another direction."