Browns add two-time Pro Bowl guard

Rodger Saffold spent two months on the Jets’ practice squad but never made his way into a game uniform in his 14th NFL season. The Jets released Saffold from their P-squad Tuesday, opening the door for another opportunity.

The Browns will add the veteran guard, announcing Wednesday he is now part of their 16-man taxi squad. Saffold, 35, is a Cleveland-area native who has started 173 career games. He will now represent depth for the playoff-bound Browns.

Before this season, Saffold was viewed as a surefire starter. The Bills used him as such throughout last season. Saffold spent nine years with the Rams and the next three with the Titans, coming to Tennessee on a big-ticket free-agency pact following Super Bowl LIII. Tennessee released Saffold last year, leading him to Buffalo.

Injuries have ransacked the Browns up front this season, though they somehow have not deterred Joe Flacco during his surprising renaissance in his age-38 slate. The Browns are without tackle starters Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin, with replacement first-stringer Dawand Jones out for the season as well. Cleveland has been healthier at guard, seeing Pro Bowlers Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller miss just one game combined. But the team now has Saffold in place as a veteran insurance piece.

A second-team All-Pro during Sean McVay‘s first season with the Rams (2017), Saffold received two Pro Bowl invites as an alternate over the past two seasons. In 2021, he helped D’Onta Foreman effectively replace an injured Derrick Henry as the Titans booked the AFC’s No. 1 seed. That came three years after Saffold started in Super Bowl LIII for the Rams. The Titans gave him a four-year, $44M deal in 2019.

Saffold joins Flacco as a well-paid veteran who accepted a Browns P-squad deal. It remains to be seen if the veteran blocker will also follow the quarterback onto Cleveland’s active roster.