That’s junior varsity, in case you didn’t know what we were getting at that there. Former Green Bay Packers starting center J.C. Tretter is leaving to sign with the Cleveland Browns, i.e. one of the NFL’s JV teams.
JC Tretter will officially be a Cleveland Brown in about five hours. That deal is getting done. Expected to be their new center.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 9, 2017
Tretter got a three-year deal worth 16.75 million. That’s a little more than $5.5 million per.
We’ve boiled this down before. We all like Tretter as a player more than Corey Linsley. He’s more athletic and allows the Packers to do more in the running game. However, this is a numbers game.
The Packers are still trying to re-sign guard T.J. Lang. If they do, he will be the third high-priced starter on the offensive line, joining David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga. Additionally, Linsley will make close to $2 million this season.
So as much as we like Tretter, that math just isn’t working out in any sort of way.
Plus, let’s just state the obvious. Tretter has been available for 16 games just once in his four seasons with the Packers (2015). He has just 10 career starts.
You could certainly say Tretter is a young player on the rise, but he’s also an injury risk. He’s missed 33 games to injury in his pro career.
So we’ll wish him good luck, better healthy and move on.