J.C. Tretter Retires
After his release from the Browns earlier this offseason, J.C. Tretter represented one of the top centers on the open market. Having failed to land on a roster, the veteran is retiring, reports Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (on Twitter). 
In his official announcement, Tretter reflected on his commitment to converting to offensive line to land in the NFL, saying that “I am proud of what I’ve accomplished… I feel like if my 31-year-old self could talk to my 20-year-old self, I could earnestly tell him that we did it. We did everything we said we’d do and more” (Twitter link).
Tretter was a fourth-round pick of the Packers in 2013. Over that time, he grew into a starting role, leading him to Cleveland in free agency. For the past five seasons, he had been a model of consistency in the middle of the team’s offensive line, missing just one game over that span and logging over 1,000 snaps every year.
In a cost-cutting move at the start of free agency, though, the Browns released the Cornell alum, freeing up more than $8MM in cap space. He was expected to generate a relatively significant market for himself given the lack of more established options in free agency, along with injuries suffered by the likes of Ryan Jensen. Instead, not much traction was gained from outside teams, and the Browns were prepared to give the starting role to Nick Harris.
Even after Harris suffered a season-ending injury, a reunion with Cleveland was deemed unlikely. Tretter’s status as president of the NFLPA reportedly caused tension between himself and the organization, and was thought to be chief among the reasons he was unable to land on a roster throughout the summer. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones tweets that Tretter will stay on as president of the union.
With Tretter off the table as a fill-in for Harris, the Browns will move forward with veteran Ethan Pocic at the pivot. Other veterans still available include Matt Paradis, Trey Hopkins and Billy Price; they could start to see offers (from Cleveland or elsewhere) given Tretter’s decision to join fellow veteran center Alex Mack in retirement.
Tretter will end his career with more than $44.5MM in total earnings, an impressive sum for a player who never made a Pro Bowl appearance. His attention can now turn exclusively to working with the NFLPA, which he has headed since 2020.
Latest On Browns’ Center Competition, J.C. Tretter
After cutting veteran J.C. Tretter, the Browns were prepared to move on to Nick Harris as their starting center in 2022. The latter suffered what is expected to be a season-ending knee injury during the team’s first preseason game, however, leaving the position in question once again.
For now, the Browns are turning to Ethan Pocic. The 27-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Browns in March to compete with Harris for the starting job at center, or at least provide experienced depth behind him. The former Seahawk started 40 of the 57 games he appeared in with Seattle, and could be an effective stop-gap option in the middle of the Browns’ highly-touted o-line in Harris’ absence.
If the team were to add a free agent option, though, the obvious candidate for a deal is Tretter. The 31-year-old was released in a cost-cutting move, saving the Browns over $8MM in cap space. The move ended a five-year run for Tretter as the team’s full-time pivot, during which time he missed just one game. With a PFF grade over 78 last season, the Cornell alum showed that he is still capable of playing at a high level.
Tretter’s status of president of the NFLPA, however, could be a factor in why he has still yet to sign in free agency this late into the summer. As Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal notes, Tretter’s position in the union (which he has held since 2020) “often led to differences of opinion between he and management.” Despite Cleveland leading the league in cap space, then, a contract bringing him back might not be likely.
When asked about Tretter, longtime teammate and All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said, “I don’t hear those conversations all the time, but I think when you have a guy that’s a top-five, top-10 center in the league, and he’s not on a roster and he’s the NFLPA president, maybe some of the owners don’t appreciate what he brings to the table on certain topics where he’s trying to protect player safety and things of that nature.”
The Browns’ aggression in adding another center – and whether or not their search includes a reunion with Tretter – will be worth watching as the offseason winds down.
Browns Unlikely To Re-Sign C J.C. Tretter
The Browns released center J.C. Tretter in March, and he has lingered on the free agent market ever since, with no concrete reports of interest in his services. However, even if Cleveland was able to re-sign its five-year starter to a team-friendly pact, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com does not envision such a reunion.
Per Cabot, the Browns would only consider re-signing Tretter if presumptive starter Nick Harris suffers a serious injury. Harris has started only two games in his two-year professional career, but the team is high on his ability and expects the transition from Tretter to Harris to be a smooth one. Indeed, while Tretter’s release saved Cleveland $8.2MM against the cap, the Browns — who currently boast a whopping $48MM+ of cap space — would not have made that move if they were not completely comfortable with Harris at the pivot.
Cabot speculates that teams that might otherwise be interested in Tretter, the NFLPA president, may have soured on him because of the hardline stance he has taken in negotiations with the league over the offseason program (among other things). Still, it is somewhat surprising that a player who has missed only one game since 2017 — a COVID-related absence in 2021 — and who has consistently rated as a high-end starter in the eyes of Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics has not gotten any bites.
One wonders if Tretter, who is 31 and who has dealt with ankle and knee ailments over the past three seasons, is simply waiting for the right opportunity, or if he is contemplating walking away from the game. His $44MM+ of career earnings would certainly allow him to do that, although Cabot does believe he will eventually sign somewhere.
Echoing her earlier reports on the matter, Cabot says that the Browns are unlikely to add a veteran wideout unless David Bell‘s foot injury lingers. Bell, a third-round rookie, had an impressive spring and is currently penciled in alongside Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones at the top of Cleveland’s WR depth chart. But he was recently put on the PUP list and is not expected back for another couple of weeks. If players like 2021 third-rounder Anthony Schwartz or sixth-round rookie Michael Woods II should fail to impress while Bell is sidelined, the Browns could look to the FA and/or trade markets.
One member of the team’s receiver mix, rookie Isaiah Weston, was carted off the practice field yesterday, as Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland tweets. As a UDFA, Weston was a longshot to make the team anyway, and even if his injury is serious, it’s unlikely to alter the Browns’ decision-making too much.
OL Rumors: Fins, Meinerz, Bates, Steelers
Addressing needs at left tackle and left guard, the Dolphins are turning their attention to center. GM Chris Grier plans to bring in competition for incumbent Michael Deiter, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Dolphins are looking to keep costs down here, Jackson adds, noting they are not currently on the radar for J.C. Tretter or Matt Paradis. Both have been center starters for the past several years but would qualify as replacements for Deiter rather than competition. Given Tretter’s performance in Cleveland, the NFLPA president looms as one of the top free agents available. Miami’s to-be-determined center will join Terron Armstead, Connor Williams, Robert Hunt and either Austin Jackson or Liam Eichenberg on the team’s reconfigured O-line.
Here is the latest from the offensive line ranks:
- Although the Patriots hosted Bills restricted free agent Ryan Bates, it does not appear they were competing with the Bears for his services. Unlike the Bears, the Pats did not extend Bates an offer sheet and, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the team was not overly interested. The Bills ended up matching the offer sheet to retain Bates. The Pats lost both 2021 guard starters — Ted Karras and Shaq Mason — this offseason. While swingman Michael Onwenu stands to take over at one of the positions, it is uncertain who will join he and longtime center David Andrews as the third interior man.
- Quinn Meinerz did not open last season as a Broncos starter, but the Division III product looks set to do so in 2022. Nathaniel Hackett envisions Meinerz as the team’s starting right guard, Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post notes. “The sky is the limit” for Meinerz, said Hackett, who plans to keep Graham Glasgow‘s midseason replacement in the lineup. That leaves Glasgow’s role uncertain. The 2020 UFA addition has been the Broncos’ starting right guard when healthy over the past two seasons, but he played center for 16 games with the 2018 Lions. Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry has not missed a snap during his initial two NFL seasons, but Pro Football Focus graded the former third-rounder as the team’s worst O-line starter last season.
- The Steelers signed James Daniels and Mason Cole in free agency. Cole has primarily played center, while Daniels has played the position as a pro as well. Daniels has spent most of his NFL days at guard, and it is possible 2021 Steelers center Kendrick Green becomes the team’s other guard starter. Mike Tomlin is open to moving Green to guard, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic notes (subscription required). A third-round pick last year, Green started 15 games as a rookie. PFF graded him as one of the league’s worst centers. A move to guard, where he spent most of his time at Illinois, could potentially open the door to improvement and threaten Kevin Dotson‘s starting role. Dotson, a 2020 fourth-rounder, opened the season as Pittsburgh’s left guard starter but missed eight games due to injury.
- Zach Banner‘s Steelers exit stemmed from his 2020 ACL tear remaining a deterrent, Kaboly adds. Banner opened the 2020 season as the Steelers’ starting right tackle but suffered the tear in Week 1. The 6-foot-8 blocker played seven games last season, but Kaboly adds his knee never returned to form.
Browns To Release J.C. Tretter
The Browns have made a cost-cutting move on the offensive line. The team is releasing center J.C. Tretter, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). The move saves the team roughly $8.2MM in cap space. 
The 31-year-old was recently named as a cut candidate, given his projected cap hit of over $9.8MM in 2022. That was the final year of his contract. After five seasons in Cleveland, the former fourth round pick will now look for a new home.
After three season in Green Bay, Tretter joined the Browns in 2017, and was the team’s full-time starter at center for his entire tenure there. That durability led general manager Andrew Berry to recently compliment the veteran, despite the questions around his contract status.
“J.C.’s been a real productive veteran for us, he’s been a starter since 2017 for us and played a lot of really good football, we expect him to continue to play some really good football” Berry said. Given today’s news, though, the team will be moving in a new direction looking for a younger, less expensive option in the middle of their offensive front.
Tretter – the president of the NFLPA – has remained a consistent if unspectacular player during his career. He has never been named a Pro Bowler, but has earned a PFF grade of at least 72 in each of the past four seasons. Now, he will enter a center market which has shrunk considerably in recent days. Beside Bradley Bozeman, Tretter will likely find himself near the top of the list for available options.
Latest On Browns C J.C. Tretter, O-Line Plans
Browns center J.C. Tretter profiles as a potential cap casualty, given that his release would save the team $8.2MM against the cap while incurring a modest $1.6MM dead money charge. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry recently addressed Tretter’s status, and he stopped short of confirming Tretter will be back in 2022, the final year of his current contract.
“For all of these situations on our roster, we work through them over the next couple weeks,” Berry said (via Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal). “J.C.’s been a real productive veteran for us, he’s been a starter since 2017 for us and played a lot of really good football, we expect him to continue to play some really good football.”
Tretter, 31, has dealt with ankle and knee injuries over the past three seasons, but he has missed just one game since joining the Browns in 2017 (which came in Week 16 of the 2021 season and which was due to a positive COVID-19 test). Although he has never made a Pro Bowl, Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics have consistently rated him as a high-end starter, with a grade no lower than 72.0 since 2018. And with the Browns angling for a postseason berth in 2022, a quality veteran on a reasonable salary at the pivot is a nice luxury for Berry to have.
That is especially true when considering that RT Jack Conklin, who recently restructured his deal, missed 10 games in 2021 due to a variety of injuries, including a torn patellar tendon. Berry said that Conklin is “doing well” in his recovery, but in light of the play-time incentives included in the reworked contract, it seems as if there is at least a chance that Conklin will miss game action in 2022.
If that happens, though, the Browns do not plan to shift LT Jedrick Wills to the right side. Wills had some injury issues of his own in 2021 and did not play particularly well in his 13 contests, but he is going to stay right where he is, despite his RT experience in high school and college.
“No, Jed will stay at left tackle,” Berry said. “We feel good about the depth that we have at the tackle position.”
Berry did leave open the possibility of supplementing that depth. Swingman Chris Hubbard, who played in just one game in 2021 due to a triceps injury, is eligible for free agency, and as a result of the health issues experienced by Hubbard, Wills, and Conklin, 2021 fourth-rounder James Hudson and former Jets taxi squad member Blake Hance were forced into significant action.
On the plus side, 2020 fifth-rounder Nick Harris played well in Tretter’s absence last year. If Berry were to move on from Tretter, that would suggest that he has considerable faith in Harris.
In related news, head coach Kevin Stefanski will continue calling the team’s offensive plays, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (via Twitter). This is despite the fact that Alex Van Pelt no longer has to pull double-duty as offensive coordinator and QB coach.
Update: Latest On The NFL Combine
7:15pm: True to our suspicions, it turns out a mass boycott of the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine is just what the prospects’ agents had in mind. According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, agents who represent more than 150 draft prospects will organize a boycott of all testing, on-field workouts, and interviews at the Combine. If that number is accurate, it represents nearly half of the Combine’s invited athletes.
Further tweets from Pelissero and Rapoport explain that agents are pushing for players to be allowed access to their full team of coaches, trainers, ATCs, etc. If these demands aren’t met, most top prospects are expected to only perform medical evaluations in Indianapolis.
The ball is now back in the NFL’s court as lines have been drawn in the sand.
6:15pm: Yesterday, the NFL informed college athletes invited to the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine of increased restrictions surrounding the event in the effort to create a “bubble” environment for protection against the spread of COVID-19. We noted yesterday that the extreme measures were not sitting well with prospective employees and that displeasure from the athletes involved could soon be voiced.
Well, less than 24 hours later, the NFL Players Association has stepped into the conversation. In a letter sent out to potential Combine participants’ agents, the NFLPA voiced their “long standing opposition to the NFL Scouting Combine.” A copy of the letter was first tweeted out by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
In the letter, the players’ union called out the “NFL’s proposed ‘bubble'” along with the league’s “antiquated system of every team doctor examining players and having them perform yet again.” The Association calls for “serious modification or elimination” of the current system.
Now, the NFLPA has no involvement in the Combine. Players are not usually introduced to the union until their rookie orientations, with the exception being players who participate in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl all-star game. The letter acknowledges this fact claiming that “while (they) do not represent these players (they) have advocated for their rights to fair treatment.” NFLPA president and current Browns’ starting center J.C. Tretter tweeted out his thoughts saying, “This year’s NFL Combine is an example of what happens when players are not yet represented by a union.”
Players declaring for the NFL Draft are solely represented by their respective agents. Word has it that many agents have been advising their clients not to participate in this year’s combine, opting to display their abilities at their schools’ Pro Days. We noted yesterday that this is a luxury afforded to players who will certainly have many scouts attend their school’s Pro Day. Players at smaller Group of 5 schools and FCS schools may be relying on the Combine to display their talents and, as a result, will have to subject themselves to the overwhelming restrictions enforced by the NFL.
We are nine days away from the scheduled start of the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, and more updates on the situation are certainly expected. With the support of the NFLPA’s “long standing opposition,” if a significant number of prospects protest this year’s testing, we may see the end of the NFL Scouting Combine as we know it.
NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 12/30/21
Here are Thursday’s reserve/COVID-19 list updates:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: T D.J. Humphries
Atlanta Falcons
- Placed on virus list: OL Jason Spriggs
Baltimore Ravens
- Activated from virus list: QB Tyler Huntley, S Tony Jefferson, DL Justin Madubuike
Buffalo Bills
- Activated from virus list: OL Cody Ford, CB Cam Lewis
- Activated from practice squad virus list: TE Quintin Morris
Carolina Panthers
- Activated from virus list: CB Rashaan Melvin
- Placed on virus list: DE Darryl Johnston, S Kenny Robinson
- Placed on practice squad virus list: RB Reggie Bonnafon
Cincinnati Bengals
- Activated from virus list: DE Wyatt Ray, DT D.J. Reader
Cleveland Browns
- Activated from virus list: DT Jordan Elliott, K Chase McLaughlin, CB Greg Newsome II, C J.C. Tretter
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from virus list: CB Jourdan Lewis
- Placed on practice squad virus list: CB Kyron Brown, S Tyler Coyle
Denver Broncos
- Placed on virus list: CB Bryce Callahan, CB Mike Ford, T Bobby Massie, OLB Stephen Weatherly
Detroit Lions
- Placed on virus list: WR Kalif Raymond
Green Bay Packers
- Placed on virus list: OL Elgton Jenkins and LB Randy Ramsey
Houston Texans
- Placed on virus list: WR Danny Amendola
- Activated from virus list: DB A.J. Moore
Indianapolis Colts
- Activated from virus list: LB Darius Leonard, WR Zach Pascal, S Khari Willis
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Placed on virus list: OL Will Richardson, S Andrew Wingard
- Placed on practice squad virus list: RB B.J. Emmons
Las Vegas Raiders
- Activated from virus list: WR Bryan Edwards
- Placed on virus list: DE Carl Nassib, G Jordan Simmons
Los Angeles Chargers
- Activated from virus list: LB Emeke Egbule, WR Mike Williams
Los Angeles Rams
- Activated from virus list: T Andrew Whitworth
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on virus list: LB Nick Vigil
New England Patriots
- Placed on virus list: T Yodny Cajuste
- Activated from virus list: DL Deatrich Wise
New Orleans Saints
- Placed on virus list: C Erik McCoy
- Activated from virus list: DE Carl Granderson, Jalyn Holmes
New York Giants
- Placed on practice squad virus list: LB Omari Cobb
New York Jets
- Activated from virus list: S Ashtyn Davis, G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, DE John Franklin-Myers, G Alijah Vera-Tucker
- Placed on virus list: RB Tevin Coleman
- Activated from practice squad virus list: DE Hamilcar Rashed, WR Vyncint Smith
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from virus list: LB Shaun Bradley
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Activated from virus list: LB Marcus Allen
- Placed on virus list: CB Arthur Maulet
Seattle Seahawks
- Placed on virus list: G Damien Lewis
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Activated from virus list: DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from virus list: G Nate Davis, CB Caleb Farley; Farley remains on IR
Washington Football Team
- Placed on virus list: T Sam Cosmi, P Tress Way
- Placed on practice squad virus list: QB Kyle Shurmur
- Activated from virus list: DE Nate Orchard
- Activated from practice squad virus list: G Zack Bailey
J.C. Tretter Tests Positive For COVID-19
The Browns are set to run into more offensive line unavailability because of the coronavirus. J.C. Tretter announced (via Twitter) he turned in a positive COVID-19 test Thursday.
Barring a false positive, this will rule the Pro Bowl snapper out for the Browns’ Christmas Day matchup against the Packers. Tretter’s positive test follows Jedrick Wills and Wyatt Teller also doing so. Teller returned to play against the Raiders after testing positive, but the two-day window here would make Tretter following suit all but impossible.
Wills remains on the Browns’ virus list, but swing man James Hudson is back on the active roster, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes. Cleveland tinkered with its O-line as a result of Wills’ positive, sliding Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio to left tackle. Tretter, however, has not missed a game since signing with the Browns in 2017. The Browns also moved Grant Delpit off their virus list.
Tretter, 30, is also the NFLPA president. He said the union’s push to postpone three games last week — rather than cancel them, a path Tretter indicated the NFL preferred — led to the three Week 15 games being moved rather than players losing out on per-game salaries. His absence Saturday will certainly affect a top-tier Browns O-line in a pivotal game. The Browns’ shorthanded loss Monday dropped them to 7-7; FiveThirtyEight.com gives Cleveland a 15% chance to make the playoffs.
Latest On OTA, Training Camp Negotiations Between NFL And NFLPA
Phase 2 of the league’s offseason workout program kicked off yesterday, and with it came the news that negotiations between the league and the union with respect to that program are officially dead (via Albert Breer of SI.com). Of course, the union advised players to stay away from team facilities for voluntary offseason activities, and the NFLPA and NFL were ultimately unable to come to an agreement on a number of key points.
Instead, players and coaches negotiated their own structures, and per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, roughly 15 teams have implemented some sort of change as a result of those conversations. Browns center and union president J.C. Tretter predictably approved of the modifications, saying, “The offseason program has gotten out of hand. OTAs have been ratcheted up year after year, and they’ve turned into — especially for big guys and guys on the line of scrimmage — legitimate full-contact, non-padded practices. Nobody puts any restraints on them; they let guys go at it.”
Some teams are even making changes to the non-voluntary sessions. According to Fowler, the Packers moved their mandatory minicamp up a week, which could mean that a week of OTAs gets canceled, and as Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes, the Colts and Eagles have canceled mandatory minicamp altogether. Interestingly, although the Broncos were the first team to support the union’s stance on OTAs, Mike Klis of 9News.com reports that over 70 Broncos players showed up for the first day of Phase 2. The off-site injuries suffered by former Broncos Ja’Wuan James and DaeSean Hamilton and the potential money battle that could ensue may have played a role in that attendance figure.
The initial push from the union to have players boycott OTAs was due to persisting COVID-19 concerns, but as that situation improved in this country, NFLPA assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah says the union began to shift focus. He says that, despite the complete absence of OTAs in 2020, injuries were down and the quality of the games remained the same (Twitter links via Lindsay Rhodes of the NFL Rhodes Show podcast). So, as Tretter implied, a permanent modification of OTAs into a purely mental exercise is appropriate.
Rhodes asked Atallah if the union is essentially attempting to renegotiate the CBA on the fly, and he conceded as much (Twitter link). And players are also pushing to make last year’s approach to training camp the new normal. Tretter said the ramp-up period that was instituted out of necessity last summer was widely embraced by players, who felt better both going into the regular season and coming out of it.
To be sure, the issue of the quality of the games is a subjective one, and whether there is a direct correlation between the ramp-up period and the absence of OTAs and any data showing a decrease in injuries is debatable. But, if everything was clear-cut, there wouldn’t be much need for negotiation.
In related news, masks are no longer required for fully-vaccinated players, coaches, or staff members, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. And teams will once again be permitted to hold training camp away from club facilities (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network).