Packers open to TE Marcedes Lewis returning in 2021
The Green Bay Packers are open to veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis returning in 2021.
“The way he prepares, the way he takes care of himself, even after a lengthy career like he’s had, what we ask him to do he’s still able to do at a very high level,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said, via the team’s official site. “He’s very important to Matt (LaFleur) and our offense but also to me and our whole team. You can’t have enough guys that are wired like him in your building.”
The interest appears to be mutual. Lewis, who turns 37 in May, wants to play in 2021 and prefers to stay with the Packers.
“I’m definitely going to keep playing,” Lewis told TMZ Sports last month. “It’d be good if it was in Green Bay, we’ll see.”
Lewis has signed three straight one-year deals with the Packers. Underused during his one and only season under coach Mike McCarthy in 2018, Lewis has been employed effectively and consistently as an in-line blocking tight end for Matt LaFleur over the last two seasons. After playing just 190 snaps in 2018, he was on the field for 909 total in 2019 and 2020.
Pro Football Focus has graded Lewis as one of the best run-blocking tight ends in football during each of the last two seasons. As currently constructed, the Packers roster doesn’t have a natural replacement for what Lewis does within Matt LaFleur’s offense.
Now 15 seasons into his NFL career, Lewis is a respected presence in the Packers locker room and a close friend of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers gave Lewis a one-year, $2.25 million deal last year. Although Gutekunst is working to get under the salary cap before the start of the new league year, he can likely find enough money to get another similar deal done with Lewis to ensure he’s back in Green Bay for a fourth season in 2021.
List
16 most improved Packers players from 2020 season
