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J.C. Tretter

Top 2017 NFL Free Agents By Position: Offense

February 23rd, 2017 at 9:57pm CST by Zachary Links

[UPDATE: CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST EDITION OF THE TOP 2017 NFL FREE AGENTS BY POSITION]

NFL free agency will get underway on Thursday, March 9th, and while the list of free agents will change between now and then, we do have some idea of who will be available when free agency kicks off. The frenzy is right around the corner and it’s time for us to break down the outlook for each position. We’ll start today on offense, before getting to defense and special teams later this week.

Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each offensive position. The rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts that each player is expected to land in free agency, they are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account. Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents are not listed here since they are unlikely to actually reach the open market.

We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some guys than you are, so we encourage you to make your voice heard in our comments section to let us know which free agents we’ve got wrong.

Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by offensive position for 2017:

Quarterback:

  1. Kirk Cousins
  2. Mike Glennon
  3. Nick Foles
  4. Brian Hoyer
  5. Ryan Fitzpatrick
  6. Case Keenum
  7. Matt McGloin
  8. Mark Sanchez
  9. Geno Smith
  10. Ryan Mallett
  11. Josh McCown
  12. Christian Ponder
  13. Blaine Gabbert
  14. Matt Schaub
  15. Ryan Nassib

Honorable mention: Shaun Hill

As of this writing, Kirk Cousins is far and away the best potential free agent quarterback in this year’s crop. By the time March gets here, we’re fully expecting Cousins to be spoken for. Ultimately, the Redskins could franchise tag him, work out a long-term deal with him, or swing some type of trade that nets them a massive haul of talent and picks. That will leave a crop of retread quarterbacks that would probably best serve as transitional options for QB-needy teams. Kirk Cousins

Mike Glennon hasn’t done much in his 18 career starts, but talent evaluators are still in love with his size and potential. The 6’7″ quarterback will get more money this spring than you might expect, particularly since there are no surefire QBs in this year’s draft.

Teams looking for stopgap QBs will find a plethora of experienced, though perhaps uninspiring, signal callers. Nick Foles, Brian Hoyer, and Ryan Fitzpatrick all have their best football behind them, but they could hold down the fort for a team in 2017 and maybe even find some success if the defense is strong enough. Of course, the ideal role for those guys would probably be as a backup to a better, younger quarterback.

Running back:

  1. Le’Veon Bell
  2. Eddie Lacy
  3. LeGarrette Blount
  4. Latavius Murray
  5. Darren McFadden
  6. Jacquizz Rodgers
  7. Rashad Jennings
  8. Danny Woodhead
  9. Rex Burkhead
  10. Tim Hightower
  11. DeAngelo Williams
  12. Andre Ellington
  13. Chris Johnson
  14. Christine Michael
  15. Robert Turbin

Consider Le’Veon Bell‘s name written in Etch-A-Sketch, because he is very unlikely to get near the open market. That could leave Eddie Lacy as the best tailback available in March. Lacy has struggled with weight issues in recent years and he lost much of the 2016 season to injury. Still, he is a bruising back that could nicely complement a quicker ball carrier. Before he was shut down for the year, Lacy was averaging 5.07 yards per carry in five games for Green Bay.

LeGarrette Blount (vertical)In the last two years, LeGarrette Blount seems to have put his off-the-field troubles behind him. Whether that’s a sign of his maturity or a product of the Patriots’ culture remains to be seen. Teams can ignore his past indiscretions, but they will be wary of his age. Blount turns 31 in December.

Latavius Murray has shown glimpses of being a special running back, but he has been inconsistent and his 4.0 yards-per-carry average of the last two years isn’t overly impressive. Darren McFadden ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2015, but 2016 was pretty much a lost year for him. Jacquizz Rodgers seemed to break out last year, but he wound up succumbing to the same injury bug that took down a host of other Buccaneers running backs. Speaking of injuries, Rashad Jennings was initially brought to the Giants to be a workhorse back, but two of his three years in New York were marred by ailments. Everyone in this tier has the potential to make a difference, but none should be counted on as anyone’s main guy in 2017.

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Packers Place J.C. Tretter On IR

January 21st, 2017 at 3:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Packers won’t be seeing a J.C. Tretter comeback if they advance to Super Bowl LI. Green Bay placed the center on IR a day before its NFC title tilt in Atlanta, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Tretter has not played since the Packers’ seventh game of the season, when he suffered a knee injury. The team kept him on the roster in hopes of a possible return but will now promote rookie wideout Max McCaffrey to its 53-man roster. Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison are considered game-time decisions due to injuries on Sunday.

A third-year center, Tretter started in all seven games he played this season and suffered the knee injury during the Packers’ last trip to Atlanta. At first, this was believed to be fairly minor, but it ended up costing Tretter most of his third season. Mike McCarthy revealed this week Tretter would not have been an option in the Packers-Falcons rematch after undergoing surgery earlier this week. Fellow third-year man Corey Linsley came off the PUP list in November and resumed his role as the team’s starting center, one he’s held for the past three seasons.

The son of Ed McCaffrey and older brother of Christian, Max McCaffrey has not played in a game yet this season. He caught on with the Packers’ practice squad late in the regular season.

NFC North Notes: Packers, Lions, Nelson, Cobb

December 3rd, 2016 at 7:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Packers seem likely to ask either — or potentially, both — Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb to take paycuts this offseason, writes Pete Doughtery of the Green Bay Press Gazette, who argues that the club needs to reverse its typically free agent-wary way of thinking and sign an explosive pass-catcher this March. If Green Bay is forced to choose between Nelson and Cobb, Nelson — despite his age — is the likelier option to be retained, says Doughtery, and the potential release of Cobb would clear enough cap space to allow the Packers to bring in an outside option.

The top two free agent wideouts figure to be the Bears’ Alshon Jeffery and the Browns’ Terrelle Pryor, but both are candidates to be hit with the franchise tag (as Jeffery already was this season). If either makes it to free agency, the Packers could certainly take a look, but they may have to settle for lesser options, such as Michael Floyd, Robert Woods, or Kamar Aiken.

Here’s more from the NFC South:

  • When the Lions declined defensive tackle Nick Fairley‘s fifth-year option for the 2015 season, the club’s brass defended the decision as a motivational tactic, hoping the sting of the move would incite Fairley into improvement. That strategy worked, Fairley tells Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com, as the current Saints defender says Detroit’s choice not to pick up the option “hit home” and forced him to self-evaluate. Fairley, who will face the Lions on Sunday, has since signed consecutive one-year deals with Los Angeles and New Orleans.
  • While Fairley will be active and playing when Detroit faces New Orleans, Lions linebacker Tahir Whitehead has been downgraded to out for Sunday’s contest, the club announced today. Whitehead hasn’t been all that effective this season, as he ranks just 79th among 85 qualified linebackers, per Pro Football Focus, but he has been available — Whitehead has played on every Lions defensive snap this season. With Whitehead sidelined, Detroit will likely utilize more nickel packages, as well as three-safety looks, tweets Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
  • The Packers announced that offensive lineman T.J. Lang and J.C. Tretter are both out for the club’s Week 13 against the Texans. Lang has been sidelined since Week 10, while Tretter was injured in and hasn’t played since Week 9. Jason Spriggs will start at left guard for Lang, while Corey Linsley will continue to fill in at center for Tretter.

Packers Waive Derek Sherrod

November 3rd, 2014 at 5:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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.

PUP, IR-DTR Players Soon Eligible To Practice

October 10th, 2014 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the 49ers and Rams, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many of those clubs may be welcoming some players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the injured reserve list with the designation to return prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to practice.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to the practice field doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player on the PUP list could theoretically return for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest. If the player doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, he’ll revert to season-ending injured reserve.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform list who can begin practicing as soon as next week:

Players who began the season on the PUP list didn’t participate in any preseason practices, but that’s not the case for players on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that players who were placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing next week. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after – for instance – Week 2 will have to wait another two weeks to return to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as next week:

Packers Promote Garth Gerhart To Roster

September 3rd, 2014 at 4:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Packers have made a pair of transactions involving centers, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has placed J.C. Tretter on injured reserve with the designation to return. In his place, Green Bay has promoted Garth Gerhart from the practice squad to the active roster.

Tretter, who missed his rookie season last year, with leg and ankle injuries, was sidelined during the preseason with a knee injury, and had been viewed for the last week or so as the top candidate for Green Bay’s IR-DTR spot. In his absence, rookie Corey Linsley is expected to start for the Packers at center.

The Packers now have an opening on their practice squad, which they’ll likely fill in the near future. Additionally, Green Bay becomes the 10th NFL team to use its IR-DTR spot.

North Notes: Steelers, Ravens, Packers, Bears

July 11th, 2014 at 9:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin isn’t losing any sleep determining how to use all of his running backs. Le’Veon Bell had a terrific rookie season, and the team added free agent LeGarrette Blount and rookie Dri Archer this past offseason. Figuring out how to best utilize those backs is a tough task, so the coach is going to leave it up to the players. Tomlin told NFL Network’s Total Access hosts Lindsay Rhodes and Brian Baldinger that he’ll let the preseason determine his running back depth chart for next season.

Via NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus…

“I’m excited about letting these guys sort themselves out from a division of labor standpoint. I know that they’re all committed to being a significant component to what we do.”

Tomlin also gushed about his three options…

“Le’Veon Bell has had a great offseason. He’s really shown that he is excited about taking the next step in terms of work that he’s done thus far, particularly from a conditioning standpoint.

“LeGarrette Blount has a definite football playing personality, one that not only is evident on the field but in the locker room. Think he’s going to be positive to our efforts.”

Tomlin added that Archer was a “speed guy” who would play both running back and wide receiver.

Let’s check out some more notes form the NFL’s North divisions…

  • Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has left Roc Nation and is planning on returning to Rosenhaus Sports for representation, reports Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo and Ross Jones (via Garafolo’s Twitter).
  • The Ravens defense has changed drastically since the team won the championship in 2013, writes Hanzus. The team dedicated their top-three picks to defenders in 2013 and 2014, with Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata remaining as the lone starters from their Super Bowl victory.
  • Following the departure of Evan Dietrich-Smith, the Packers will likely go with former fourth-round pick J.C. Tretter as their starting center, writes ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky. The 23-year-old missed his entire rookie season with a broken ankle.
  • Bears rookie Brock Vereen has “virtually established himself as the player to beat” for the starting safety position, writes CSNChicago.com’s John Mullin. The writer labels the fourth-round pick as a “draft gem.”

NFC Camp Notes: Seahawks, Lyerla, Eagles

June 22nd, 2014 at 9:54am CST by Rory Parks

Now that OTAs and minicamps are behind us, writers from around the league are looking ahead to training camp, anticipating roster battles, and wondering if anything we saw in the past few weeks of workouts will translate into the regular season. Here are some such notes from the NFC:

  • Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times writes that the Seahawks‘ most heated position battle will be at right tackle, where Michael Bowie and Justin Britt appear to have equal footing heading into training camp.
  • Tyler Dunne of the Journal Sentinel lists 10 Packers storylines to watch before training camp, including J.C. Tretter‘s hold on the center position and how the team will replace Jermichael Finley. Perhaps undrafted tight end Colt Lyerla, who Dunne also lists as a player to watch this summer, could be part of that solution.
  • Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer, like most writers, notes that reports from OTAs and minicamps are typically full of optimism. But trouble always lurks beneath that hopeful veneer, and for the Eagles, that trouble comes in the form of depth along the offensive line and the wide receiver corps. Then there is the question of whether the team’s projected starters in the defensive backfield are good enough to compete on a weekly basis.
  • On the more optimistic side of the coin, Rich Tandler of RealRedskins.com points to five reasons for Redskins fans to feel hopeful heading into training camp, including what promises to be a more productive pass rush.
  • Matt Bowen of The Chicago Tribune liked a lot of what he saw from the Bears‘ defensive unit this spring, including the promise displayed by Brock Vereen and Shea McClellin.