Fresh off their bye week, the Packers have made a slew of roster moves, with the most notable transaction being the waiving of tackle Derek Sherrod, who was the 32nd overall pick in the 2011 draft (Twitter link via Brian McIntyre). To replace him on the roster, Green Bay has activated center J.C. Tretter from the injured reserve/designated to return list, per Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link). The club also tweaked its practice squad, signing running back Rajion Neal and linebacker Joe Thomas while cutting tight end Ike Ariguzo and defensive end Joe Kruger, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).
The Packers’ decision to cut Sherrod ends an unceremonious run in Green Bay for the Mississippi State product, who despite his draft pedigree, started only one game during his stint with the team. He represents a rare miss by general manager Ted Thompson — as ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky notes (on Twitter), Sherrod joins Justin Harrell as the only Thompson first-round picks no longer on the Packers’ roster. Sherrod’s most notable performance, infamously, came during the NFL opener earlier this year, when he was routinely beaten by various Seahawks defenders on his way to registering a -6.9 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Still only 25, Sherrod should be able to latch on somewhere else; because he isn’t a vested veteran, he will have to clear waivers before becoming a free agent. The Packers, meanwhile, will need to find another swing tackle, as there isn’t another OT on the roster outside of starters David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga. The club does have rookie tackle Jeremy Vujnovich on its practice squad, so perhaps we’ll see him be promoted if the Packers decide they need more depth along their line.
Tretter, 23, was slated to take over as Green Bay’s starting center following the offseason departure of veteran Evan Dietrich-Smith. After injuring his knee during training camp, however, the team placed the 2013 fourth-rounder on IR-DTR. His replacement in the lineup, Corey Linsley, is playing extremely well, as evidenced by his rating as the league’s third-best center per PFF, so it’s fair to wonder if Tretter will be relegated to a reserve role. As Silverstein suggests (via Twitter), Tretter is a candidate to act as a backup tackle, so perhaps his versatility would serve him well in a bench position.