Green Bay Packers: 3 Pending Free Agents that may Actually be Re-Signed
By Paul Bretl
Even dating back to last offseason, much of the focus has been on the Green Bay Packers’ 2021 free-agent class that is filled with key players. This group at one time included Kenny Clark and David Bakhtiari, and it still includes Corey Linsley, Aaron Jones, Kevin King, and Jamaal Williams.
As we all know, Bakhtiari and Clark signed extensions a while back, but the others are set to hit the open market when free agency opens next Wednesday. While anything can happen, as of now, all signs are pointing to Jones, Linsley, King, and Williams playing elsewhere in 2021.
However, while these are the high-profile free agent names on the Green Bay Packers, there are others–and there are three in particular who could very well be re-signed.
Green Bay Packers potential re-signee: Marcedes Lewis
With Robert Tonyan, Jace Sternberger, Josiah Deguara, and Dominique Dafney, the Green Bay Packers have a full tight end room. But none of them are asked to do with the same frequency or can do what Marcedes Lewis does at a high level–blocking.
In Matt LaFleur’s wide zone running scheme, Lewis is incredibly valuable on the edge, helping to create lanes, corraling defenders on the edge, and getting to the second level. Often times when we saw Aaron Jones break a big run, Lewis was in the mix.
In the last two seasons as a run-blocker, Lewis finished eighth in 2019 and fourth in 2020 among tight ends by Pro Football Focus’ ($) grading system. He can also hold his own as a pass-blocker, makes some plays in the passing game, hauling in three touchdowns this past season, and he is one of the leaders of this team.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old Lewis recently told TMZ that he doesn’t plan on retiring, and I imagine that if the Green Bay Packers offered him another one-year deal on the veteran minimum, he would be back. As I mentioned initially, while Green Bay has plenty of options in the tight end room, none of them can block quite like Lewis can, and we all know how valued that is in the LaFleur offense.
When discussing Marcedes Lewis, LaFleur said it best, “you can’t even quantify how important he is to us.”