When Scott Wells left following the 2011 season, the Green Bay Packers elected to sign Jeff Saturday in free agency to fill their hole at the center position.
As it turns out, the best answer was already on their roster in Evan Dietrich-Smith.
The Packers are hoping the same logic will apply this time around after Dietrich-Smith signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason.
According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers will give the first shot at their vacant center position to former fourth-round pick JC Tretter.
Tretter didn’t play in a game for the Packers last season as he spent most of the season on the physically unable to perform list with a broken ankle suffered in training camp. He came off PUP late in the season and practiced with the team down the stretch but didn’t play
However, head coach Mike McCarthy said at the owner’s meetings in Orlando, Fla. that Tretter may have earned the starting job over Dietrich-Smith last year had he not been injured.
“Good question,” McCarthy said. “We obviously were very excited about him when we drafted him.”
The Packers are still kicking the tires on other veteran options as well. Mike McGlynn met with the Packers earlier this week and has experience at center as well.
No matter who takes over for Dietrich-Smith, they will be the fourth different center to work with Aaron Rodgers in the last three seasons along with Wells, Saturday and Dietrich-Smith.