Going into the 2021 season it seemed like it could be J.C. Tretter’s last season with the Cleveland Browns due to salary cap constraints, but increasingly I can’t help but wonder if it will be his final season in the NFL.
As the Browns look at a possible contract extension with Wyatt Teller, it always seemed reasonable that they might get the money to pay him by moving on from Tretter, who’s scheduled to earn $9.875 million in 2022.
The Browns were mindful in preparing for life after Tretter, drafting Nick Harris with a long runway to get prepared both physically and mentally before his career really takes flight. Tretter has embraced the role of being a mentor and imparting as much wisdom as he can offer his would be replacement.
When viewing Tretter’s career overall, you see someone who has had an intimate relationship with physical pain, almost all of it to his legs. With the Green Bay Packers, he suffered a pair of injuries to his legs that forced him to miss time. And though he hasn’t missed a game in four years with the Browns, almost all of it has been while grinning and bearing through lingering injuries.
He played virtually the entire 2018 season on one leg after suffering a high ankle sprain the first week of the season. Tretter couldn’t practice, but he’d go out on gameday and play. A feat that teammates Joel Bitonio and Kevin Zeitler still can’t believe he was able to pull off.
Listening to him talk during media availabilities, he often mentions trying to avoid putting additional mileage on his body, focusing on staying healthy. Given the fact that one of the injuries he suffered was in OTAs with the Packers, that’s understandable, but he also sounds like someone who’s been forced to manage quite a bit already.
Tretter has not lost a step in terms of his play. In fact, in 2020, he was one of the best centers in the NFL and should have been named to the Pro Bowl. The fact Maurkice Pouncey was selected despite how poorly he played is an insult to what Tretter has endured to be one of the best in the league.
We saw this with Joe Thomas, who gave everything he had for ten seasons. Thomas quietly dealt with far more than anyone realized and after he tore his tricep, he revealed the extent of it in announcing his retirement. His knee was source of immense discomfort and Thomas didn’t want to hang on for the sake of hanging on.
Tretter strikes me as someone who will take a similar approach. It’s unlikely Tretter has any interest in continuing to play his career at a lesser capacity, given what he’s been able to achieve and what he could accomplish in life after football.
Tretter will be 31 after this season, which is the age Thomas retired.
Entering his ninth season in the NFL, his fifth with the Browns, Tretter absolutely has goals he still wants to accomplish not the least of which is winning the Super Bowl. However, the last two years have helped to show that he may love football, but he doesn’t need it.
In his role as NFLPA President, Tretter has gotten to do something he aspired to do since attending Cornell. He majored in labor relations and being the player head of the NFLPA has allowed him to explore work in that field the past two seasons while still playing.
It stands to reason he has always hoped to do something along these lines after his career in the NFL and he’s already getting to experience it now, which may be kindling that fire to take on the next challenge in his life, particularly one that doesn’t demand so much from his body.
The reality is Tretter may not know what he wants to do at this point and if he enjoys a healthy 2021 season, he may more inclined to play another season. It’s unclear if how interested he would be doing it if it’s in another uniform, but if the right opportunity comes along where he might be interested.
It’s unlikely to be a financially motivated decision as after this season, Tretter will have earned a hair under $45 million over the course of his career. With another potentially lucrative career ahead of him, he’s got plenty of earning power.
It just wouldn’t surprise me if 2021 is Tretter’s final season in the NFL, which would make him the be first of Andrew Berry’s acquisitions (this one from his time working with Sashi Brown) to call it a distinguished career. Regardless of when Tretter decides to retire, he embodies everything this new era of the Browns aspires to be and his run in Cleveland should be celebrated.
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