Additionally, Tretter played tackle at Cornell. Ivy league ball. He's a brilliant kid with tons of athleticism. Did you see a lot of Rodgers before he took over for Favre? Were you concerned back then? I wasn't. I couldn't wait for the Rodgers era to begin and the Favre era to end.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
That's an unfair comparison. With Rodgers, you actually had some evidence of him being capable (like the Cowboys game where he replaced an injured Favre). With Tretter, you've got the Bills game.... where Tretter basically let Mario Williams beat him to cause an A-Rod fumble then safety. Tretter showed well at C during pre-season, but his game tape (albeit very limited) at RT in real NFL games suggests he would be a disaster. With Rodgers, his NFL game tape (albeit also limited, but more than Tretter) suggested he at least had the chance to be a good QB. I believed in Rodgers being good based on the fact he'd had some success at QB; Tretter has never had success at RT in the NFL level.
Tretter had a freak injury... a fumble drill injury in an OTA if memory serves. Bad luck. Not an injury I foresee happening again. Bulaga on the other hand has knee issues. His knees don't seem to be in the best of shape.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
Every season Bluga has started a game, he has played at least 88% of the snaps that year (source: PFF
here ). Yes he has had injury set backs, but outside of the torn ACL, Bulaga has not been as horribly injury prone as you would suggest.
As to whether Bulaga is worth the ~$5.5 million difference between Barclay and Tretter: yes. The market sets the prices, and you've seen some insane money thrown at Tackles with no where near the record of performance of Bulaga. In this market, based on early deals with players like Jeremy Parnell - a ex-Cowboy OT back-up who was 75% as good as Bulaga according to PFF stats (I can provide the link comparing the two, if you want) - who got 5yrs / 32 million, it seems the market has clearly indicated the value difference between back-ups (i.e. Barclay and Tretter) and a starter (even with limited starting experience like Parnell) is at least $5 million.
Bulaga got a contract done, one that apparently doesn't pay him more than Sitton - our best O-linemen. Based on his performance, the external FA market, and the internal money benchmark set by Sitton, it's hard to argue the deal was bad or even unfair for the Packers.
The NFL: Where Greg Jennings Happens.