Packers noncommittal about WR Devin Funchess returning in 2021
Veteran wide receiver Devin Funchess remains under contract after opting out of the 2020 season, but the Green Bay Packers were mostly noncommittal about him returning and playing for the team in 2021.
Both offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and general manager Brian Gutekunst declined to say whether Funchess would be back this season.
“We’ll find out,” Hackett said Tuesday. “If he’s here, we’ll be excited to have him here, and see what he can do and move forward from there.”
Funchess signed a one-year deal to join the Packers last offseason. He opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Contracts tolled to 2021 for all players who opted out last season.
Still only 26, Funchess has 164 career catches and 21 touchdowns, but he hasn’t played since Week 1 of the 2019 regular season, and the Packers could save a little over $1.2 million on the 2021 cap by releasing him.
Gutekunst said the Packers are still in the process of making a decision on Funchess.
“We have had some contact with Devin (about) possibly being a part of our squad moving forward,” Gutekunst said, via Packers.com “There’s a lot of different pieces that kind of affect each other. We’re working through all that.”
The Packers may want to see what Funchess has to offer during training camp before making a decision. It’s also conceivable that the Packers want to use the cap savings from releasing him to sign a veteran free agent this month, possibly at wide receiver.
The Packers will return all their top receivers from a year ago and could use at least one draft pick in April to stabilize the position past 2021.
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