Green Bay Packers 2019 offseason review: Tight end
The Green Bay Packers have a few tough decisions to make at tight end this offseason.
From Jared Cook to Martellus Bennett to Jimmy Graham, the Green Bay Packers have made a lot of moves at the tight end position in free agency in recent years.
The same could be the case this offseason. Tight end is one of the team’s biggest needs.
Will Jimmy Graham return in 2019? Lance Kendricks and Marcedes Lewis might not be back; both are free agents this offseason.
Will Jimmy Graham be back?
One of the biggest questions at tight end this offseason is whether Jimmy Graham will be back in Green Bay in 2019.
Graham signed a three-year, $30 million contract last offseason, but it’s fair to say his performances didn’t live up to expectations. Graham finished the season with just two touchdown catches, just a season after finding the end zone 10 times in Seattle.
According to Over The Cap, the Packers would free up around $5.3 million in cap room by releasing Graham this offseason. Brian Gutekunst must decide whether Graham can have a bigger impact in the Packers offense under new head coach Matt LaFleur, or whether the team better off going with a cheaper option either in free agency or the draft.
The Packers need to find a new tight end at some point this offseason, and if they decide to move on from Graham it will become an even bigger priority to add more talent at the position.
Decisions to make in free agency
But that’s not the only decision Gutekunst has to make this offseason at the tight end position.
Lance Kendricks and Marcedes Lewis will become free agents when the new league year begins on March 13. Should the Green Bay Packers re-sign either player?
Robert Tonyan is an exclusive rights free agent, and there has to be a good chance he’ll return in 2019.
But the Packers’ top three tight ends from 2018 — Graham, Kendricks and Lewis — could all be gone this offseason. In that case the Packers would have to not only use the draft to find a tight end, but also add a free agent. How does a Jared Cook return to Green Bay sound?
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The Packers have been trying to fix the tight end position for a few years now, and it will be one of the team’s top priorities again this offseason.