Green Bay Packers Re-sign TE Marcedes Lewis

It was recently reported that the Green Bay Packers will be bringing back veteran tight end, Marcedes Lewis for the upcoming season.

While many expect second-year tight end Jace Sternberger to play a much bigger role in 2020, overall the Green Bay Packers’ tight end position was still lacking some major depth and experience prior to free agency.

After releasing Jimmy Graham, there was a period of time that Sternberger was the only tight end on the roster until Tuesday when Green Bay tendered a contract to exclusive rights free agent, Robert Tonyan. And although the Sternberger-Tonyan duo has flashed in the passing game and they have shown that they are willing blockers, the two tight ends have just three combined NFL starts between them.

So clearly adding another tight end, whether that be via the draft or free agency, was a must just to have more bodies in the tight end room. But also given the difficulty of the position for young players, signing a veteran made a lot of sense as well.

And for the Green Bay Packers, it’s been reported that they brought back a familiar face in Marcedes Lewis:

Lewis has spent the last two seasons in Green Bay and he is primarily known as being a blocking tight end. Although last season under Matt LaFleur he did see more opportunities in the passing game, catching 15 of 19 passes for 156 yards with a touchdown.

Not to mention that overall he saw much more playing time in general, as he was on the field for 45.2 percent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps in 2019, compared to 17.7 percent under Mike McCarthy in 2018.

Lewis is a great locker room presence to have and quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a big fan of his as well. Even giving Lewis the nickname, “Big Dog.” And given how young and inexperienced Sternberger and Tonyan are, in what will be his 15th NFL season, Lewis will likely play a big role once again.

For a Green Bay Packers team that doesn’t have a ton of spendable cap space available, Lewis certainly doesn’t break the bank, he knows this offense, and his veteran presence will provide stability to the tight end position. And for those reasons, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that he was re-signed.

However, I think it’s fair to question how effective a tight end unit made up of Sternberger, Tonyan and Lewis can really be. I’d expect the Packers to add another player either in the draft or once again in free agency before all is said and done.