With the negotiations between free agent center Scott Wells and the Green Bay Packers going nowhere the team is exploring other options. Their No. 1 option for replacing Wells appears to be Houston’s Chris Myers.
Myers will be the top center on the free agent market and the Packers met with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, at the scouting combine. Technically, discussing Myers or a contract is illegal, but you can be sure the Packers communicated their interest.
Myers is slightly bigger than Wells and a year younger. He’s started all 16 games each of the last five seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2011.
Although some people in the organization still would like to see Wells re-signed, that appears more unlikely by the day.
“We’ll figure it out,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy told PFW at the Combine. “I’m still hopeful we can work something out from a business standpoint, but if not, we’ll just have to go in another direction. There are different scenarios we’re exploring.”
The problem is Wells wants to be paid around $7.5 million annually, which would make him one of the top-paid centers in the NFL. The Packers are reportedly offering between $4 and $5 million. Fortunately, the team has some leverage. There will be around 10 veteran centers on the free agent market, so the Packers should have no problem finding a replacement if Wells signs elsewhere.