Packers rumors have been chock full of re-signings over the first few days of the 2014 NFL free agency period. However, for the first time in the past 72 hours, the Green Bay Packers have lost one of their own.
According to Tom Silverstein, writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Green Bay Packers have just lost free agent center Evan Dietrich-Smith to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers--
#Packers lose their first free agent. C Evan Dietrich-Smith is signing with Tampa Bay, according to an NFL source.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) March 14, 2014
Dietrich-Smith and the Bucs have agreed in principle on a four-year, $14.25 million contract that will almost ensure that the 27-year-old spends his prime in Tampa Bay.
Evan Dietrich-Smith started all 16 regular season games in his fourth and final year with the Green Bay Packers. In his three previous seasons with the team, Dietrich-Smith appeared in 45 of the Packers' 48 regular season contests, while starting only nine times.
The Packers are rumored to be looking to May's NFL draft to find a young, cheaper replacement at center--however, the free agency period is still young, and the Green Bay Packers still have an estimated $24 million plus in cap space (as of this writing) to play with.
