New York Giants Are Favorites for Evan Dietrich-Smith
Center Evan Dietrich-Smith is apparently in a hurry to get out of Green Bay.
The New York Daily News’ Ralph Vacchiano says the Green Bay Packers starting center in 2013 will sign quickly and he’ll do it with the New York Giants.
I've heard free-agent C Evan Dietrich-Smith could sign quickly tomorrow. Giants are the favorites, from what I can tell. #NYG
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoNYDN) March 10, 2014
First, just gotta say… is there a more New York sportswriter name than Ralph Vacchiano? I mean, this guy was either going to be a mid-level mobster or a sportswriter for the Daily News. With a name like that, those were the only two choices he had.
So anyway, not much of a surprise if it’s true about Dietrich-Smith.
The Giants have been rumored to be interested in just about all of the Packers offensive free agents at one point or another this offseason. The primary reason is Ben McAdoo. The Packers former quarterbacks coach is now the Giants’ offensive coordinator.
Also, the Packers didn’t seem to the have the same urgency to do a deal before free agency opened with Dietrich-Smith that they did with cornerback Sam Shields. In fact, we haven’t heard peep that the Packers were even talking with Dietrich-Smith about a new deal.
If that’s truly the case, then we can see why he’d be in a hurry to sign elsewhere.
The Giants are in bad need of a center as well. Word surfaced on Monday that they were cutting their starting center, David Baas. It isn’t likely they’d have made that move if Dietrich-Smith wasn’t already locked up, for all intents and purposes.
If this plays out as expected, the Packers will be left with a hole at center. The top candidate to fill that hole has to be second-year man J.C. Tretter.
Tretter lost the majority of his rookie season to a broken ankle, but the Packers drafted him in the fourth round to be the team’s “center of the future.”
That future might be now.
Crazy…this is crazy…but predictable sorry to say!
Ben McAdoo is starting to piss me off.
Just a case of Teddy being Teddy. Everyone thought the world would end when Scott Wells left, and the same thing is true with EDS. Let the Giants spend like drunk sailors.
By the way, are you aware that the name of the author of the Tweet, Vaccchiano, means “Vagina” in Italian?
I will admit I was one of those who really lamented the departure of Big Ol’ Scott Wells, who was one of my favorite players from the 2009-2010 teams. The problem is that EDS is not as old Scott Wells was when he went for the big money. Also, I do not think EDS has quite the same street cred so I imagine the Giants will get him at a somewhat reasonable price.
Surely you can’t be serious.
Damn it! This is a serious piece of dirt. EDS became a more than serviceable center. He was no Scott Wells but did admirably enough. Now we have yet another hole to fill, the very year it seemed we would finally have a stable offensive line with Bakhtiari and Bulaga as tackle.
If I believed in voodoo or witchcraft McAdoo would hurting. Alas, it is but superstition.
Who knows what happens behind the scenes? Ted is not going to spend mad money on EDS. He is a good, not great center. Lets hope the “plan B” works. Draft?, Free agent?, someone on the roster? I guess we’ll see. But I’m not fretting if we lose EDS. Not yet anyway.
This group of FA’s is far deeper on defense than offense. Rodgers wants him back too
I would prefer to have EDS back, but center is an easily replaced position, as EDS proved himself.
The Packers have JC Vetter and Don Barclay as possible replacements, granted Barclay learns how to consistently snap the football. Both are bigger and more athletic than EDS.
If he doesn’t want to play for the Packers then fuck him!
Pups,
THere is talk that TJ Lang would move to center. In other words, this cannot be good. Oh and the center position is pretty damn important, making reads and calling signals. That is what made Scott Wells so good. If EDS does walk, they better prioritize in the draft or find someone else.