Do the Vikings have any chance at signing Rodger Saffold?

Rodger Saffold is expected to be the top interior offensive lineman available in free agency this year and the Minnesota Vikings should be interested in his services.

This offseason, improving their offensive line is clearly one of the top priorities for the Minnesota Vikings. How the Vikings go about this remains to be seen, but some big-time moves could be made in order to get the unit back on track for 2019.

Minnesota will likely consider a number of different options to improve their offensive line this year. Taking a look into the available free-agent blockers this offseason seems like a probable route that the Vikings will be a taking.

Currently, there aren’t too many big name offensive linemen that are expected to be available in free agency this year. But there is at least one notable interior blocker that Minnesota should look into signing this offseason.

After spending the last nine years with the Los Angeles Rams, Rodger Saffold is scheduled to become a free-agent this offseason.

Saffold began his career in the NFL as the Rams starting left tackle. His performance was nothing to run home about so Los Angeles switched him to the inside of their line and he has been the team’s starting left guard for the past two seasons.

During his time in the league, Saffold has never made a Pro Bowl or earned any First-Team All-Pro selections. But his play as Los Angeles’ left guard has been solid for the last two years and sometimes, that’s all a team can ask for from their blockers up front.

The Vikings’ last two starting left guards, Nick Easton and Tom Compton, are scheduled to be free-agents in 2019, so there is certainly a need to fill the spot this offseason. If Minnesota has their heart set on landing Saffold for their opening, they must first figure out how much it might cost to sign him.

With the Rams last season, the veteran guard made around $8 million and he’s likely going to want a new deal that doesn’t pay him anything less than that each year. A contract with something closer to an average salary of at least $10 million per season is probably what Saffold will be hoping for this year in free agency.

He’ll be turning 31-years-old in June, so this is likely his last opportunity to get a big-money deal in the NFL. So if the Vikings truly want to sign Saffold this offseason, he’s probably not going be to giving them any sort of discount.

Given that he’s arguably the top interior lineman that is expected to be available in free agency this year, Minnesota is also going to be competing for his services with a number of other teams looking to improve their offensive line.

Even if they make some pretty serious moves to add more cap space this offseason, the Vikings still probably won’t be able to give Saffold as much money as some of the other teams around the NFL.

He would be a great addition to their offensive line if Minnesota were actually able to land his services this year. But with the way everything is currently laid out, the Vikings chances of actually signing Saffold this offseason don’t appear to be as high as they would probably like them to be.