Green Bay Packers Re-Sign or Let Go & Prediction: Robert Tonyan
By Paul Bretl
Prediction: The Green Bay Packers re-sign Robert Tonyan
We will find out in a few weeks whether I’m right or wrong on this one, but I tend to think that because of Tonyan’s injury and that he is likely to miss some of next season, it could impact his market–whether that be the dollar amount on his offers or the number of teams competing for his services.
But from a football standpoint, as I just mentioned, Tonyan plays a very important role in this offense — both as a pass-catching option and what he can open up for others — and without him, this is an element that Green Bay just doesn’t have. While there are always many reasons behind any one thing in football, one reason this unit never quite clicked as they did in 2020 was because of Tonyan’s absence.
It’s unlikely that they would be able to find an upgrade in free agency, and rookie tight ends typically take at least a season or two before they are truly impactful players.
Green Bay may initially see how the market for Tonyan unfolds once free agency begins, but his skill-set is too important to this offense to let him walk. While the salary cap is a concern, for a team that clearly looks to be “all-in” once again, there are plenty of cap saving moves out there to create space, plus the usage of voided years — something that Green Bay has utilized heavily the last two years — coupled with how the Packers typically backload contracts would help create a more manageable cap hit in 2022.