Vincent Frank
The New York Jets were not active on the trade front ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. It’s not a surprise given the dynamics on the roster and their future draft capital.
However, general manager Joe Douglas and Co. did make a big move after the deadline passed. The front office head announced that they have signed two-time Pro Bowl guard Rodger Saffold.
The 35-year-old offensive lineman will initially be on the Jets’ practice squad with the expectation he’ll be activated to the 53-man roster ahead of this week’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers Monday night.
This comes after a whole host of injuries on the Jets’ offensive line. That includes Connor McGovern, Wes Schweitzer, Duane Brown and Alijah Vera-Tucker all currently being on injured reserve.
A second-round pick of the then-St. Louis Rams out of Indiana in the 2010 NFL Draft, Saffold was once one of the better guards in the league. He earned second-team All-Pro honors with the Rams back in 2017.
Saffold was surprisingly still on the NFL free agent market despite earning Pro Bowl honors with the Tennessee Titans in 2021 and then with the Buffalo Bills this past season. All said, he’s started 173 of the 176 games in which he’s appeared in 13 NFL seasons.
New York Jets add reinforcement on the offensive line
As mentioned above, New York currently has four offensive linemen on injured reserve. Center Joe Tippmann is also a bit banged up, leaving six healthy offensive linemen on the active roster.
In addition to Saffold, the Jets do have Jason Poe and the recently-signed Xavier Newman on the practice squad. All three will likely be called up to the active roster ahead of Monday’s huge game against the Chargers.
Despite having lost Aaron Rodgers four snaps into his career with the Jets back on Week 1, they sit at 4-3 on the season and firmly in the AFC Playoff picture. Adding Saffold to the mix is only going to help matters moving forward. He should be good to start sooner rather than later.
