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The opening week of NFL free agency officially took its first real turn for the weird Wednesday evening. On Tuesday, the Oakland Raiders agreed to a long-term contract with offensive tackle Rodger Saffold. It was viewed as an odd deal because the Raiders let Jared Veldheer walk, and Saffold was an injury prone replacement. Now, it gets even more bizarre. The Raiders failed Saffold on his physical due to a shoulder issue. It gets crazier:
After a disagreement in OAK on OT Rodger Saffold's physical condition, he is returning to STL to sign a 5-yr contract with the Rams. Wow.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2014
Raiders had concerns about Saffold's shoulder; Rams had "no concerns whatsoever" about his shoulder, per agent Alan Herman and Jared Fox.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2014
This only tangentially related to the 49ers because the Rams are in the NFC West, but even still, it's amusing to read about. I originally felt bad for Saffold failing the physical, but this would seem to be more on the Raiders given that the Rams were comfortable with the shoulder. I really don't know. The whole thing is weird. Some are suggesting the Raiders realized they gave him too much given his injury issues, but even still, it's an odd situation.
And incidents like this make me plenty fine with the 49ers free agency foray thus far. Yes there are still some question marks, but at least the 49ers have a seemingly competent front office. I mention this also because of an earlier tweet from Jason LaCanfora. The Cleveland Browns released Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell, leading to this tweet:
Browns cutting QBs today opens up a spot for Matt Schaub. If they don't get him, then Rex Grossman is the next man up
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 12, 2014
The Browns actually are not in the entirely worst situation in the world. They have a pair of first round picks, but of course they have turned over their front office and coaching staff twice in the last calendar year. Not exactly an inspiring group. But hey, they do have a new strong safety!
The 49ers have plenty of work to do to finish out this offseason, but they remain moving in the right direction. The secondary still requires another cornerback, but with Tarell Brown still on the market and a deep draft class, the 49ers are in a good position in that regard. The Antoine Bethea deal is far from the back-breaker some tried to infer when the news came out. And the 49ers still have 11 picks in the 2014 NFL Draft. It could always be sooooo much worse.