It’s the sort of move by the Green Bay Packers no one — other than Don Barclay and his agent — were waiting for.
The Packers have re-signed Don Barclay. It’s a one-year deal for $1.3 million.
And as unexciting as this is, it’s a move the Packers had to make.
They’ve already lost center/guard J.C. Tretter to Cleveland. Meanwhile, guard T.J. Lang is on a free agent tour of his own.
If the Packers lose Lang after losing Tretter, they have a gaping hole at right guard. The only obvious potential replacement is Barclay, but like the others, he was also an unrestricted free agent.
So it appears the backup plan is now at least in place.
We wouldn’t quite jump to the conclusion that Lang is out of the picture because of this move. However, the Packers are certainly well aware of his demands at this point and they obviously at least feel like there’s a chance he won’t be back.
Barclay was a failure at tackle for the Packers early in his career, but proved to be solid enough as a guard after moving there prior to the 2016 season. He started one game and filled in on numerous other occasions as guys came and went with injuries.
Now that Tretter is gone, he’s also likely your backup center.