Should the Browns Attempt To Sign JC Tretter?

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CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Browns had one of the worst starts a team could possibly have against the Jacksonville Jaguars. DeShaun Watson looked as if he’s still learning the Browns’ offensive system, there seemed to be miscommunication between Watson and the receivers. On top of that, starting Center Nick Harris went down with a serious knee injury.

Harris’ knee appeared to completely buckle which is one of those gruesome injuries that makes most viewers immediately scream or cry in sympathy. It was very uncomfortable to see and you could immediately tell Harris was in way too much pain to continue playing. In fact, with the information that came out on Saturday is his season is almost certainly over.

This brings to attention a move the Browns made in the off-season. The Browns released JC Tretter for the sake of increasing cap space by over $8 million dollars. The Browns also clearly believed that Harris was ready to start. Unfortunately, no one will find out until next season at the earliest.

Now it appears that the Browns have to reach out to Tretter and begin negotiations to bring him back. This sounds like a rather strange turn of events to suddenly negotiate a new contract with the center the team just released.

However, the Browns are left with little choice. Ethan Pocic may be regressing after he missed significant time with an injury of his own. He was the SEC’s top center at LSU before he became the Seattle Seahawks’ second-round draft pick back in 2017.

In the 2022 NFL draft, the Browns selected Dawson Deaton out of Texas Tech. That selection now looks even more important since Harris went down.

Chances are the Browns will place their trust in Pocic, believing he’ll return to 2017 form. However, that’s a major risk given how many sacks he gave up after his injury. With likely shallow depth at quarterback after the final decision of Watson, the Browns can’t afford to take risks with an unknown at center. The defense’s fastest path to the quarterback is through the center.

The team should at least offer Tretter the same exact contract he would’ve had if he remained on the team. In fact, they may need to offer slightly more in a signing bonus to sweeten the deal should the team make an offer. Tretter is still a free agent so this is important for the Browns and mutually beneficial for both the team and Tretter. He was to make $7.9 million dollars guaranteed. Will the team bring him back despite the difficulty in talking to the player that was released a few months ago? This could be an awkward conversation for Andrew Berry to have but it appears to be a necessary one.