The Browns will sign Green Bay Packers center J.C. Tretter, NFL Network reported Thursday.
Tretter, 26, would fill the Browns' urgent need for a starting center.
Free agency officially begins at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Tretter has dealt with injuries throughout his career but has played well when healthy. He started all seven games in which he appeared last season before suffering a sprained MCL. He had knee surgery in January.
ProFootballFocus.com ranked Tretter 27th on its list of the top-50 free agents.
Here is the website's description of Tretter: "There isn’t a whole lot of tape on J.C. Tretter (his career is 1,001 snaps old, which amounts to effectively one full year of starting), but what is out there is pretty good. His grade over that thousand snaps would put him among the top 15 players in the league at his position, and in 2016, he ranked ninth overall with a grade of 84.1. He hasn’t really shown limitless upside, but his floor would appear to be a capable, solid starting center, which makes him a valuable commodity."
NFL.com ranked Tretter 70th on its list of the top-101 free agents.
Check Ohio.com later Thursday for more about this story.