Understanding the Green Bay Packers’ needs and offseason plans first requires knowing where the roster stands exiting the 2021 season and entering 2022.
Going through position by position helps paint a clear picture of what GM Brian Gutekunst is facing this offseason, both from a personnel and salary cap standpoint.
Here’s our breakdown of the Packers’ roster at the tight end position, with players under contract for 2022, free agents, early thoughts on the position group and a unique cap perspective from Ken Ingalls, a CPA who studies the salary cap:
Roster analysis
Under contract (3): Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara, Tyler Davis
Free agents (2): Robert Tonyan, Dominique Dafney (exclusive rights)
Early thoughts: Lewis will be 38, but he’s holding off Father Time and is under contract at a reasonable enough price in 2022, creating a tough roster-building decision. Tonyan’s price likely dropped after he missed half the year to a significant knee injury, but he could still move on. Getting him back at a team-friendly price would be big. His receiving ability was missed over the second half of 2022. Even if Dafney is expected to be back, the Packers probably need to add a player or two here. Deguara and Davis are capable role players but probably shouldn’t be counted on to be full-time options.
Ken’s cap perspective
Marcedes Lewis is likely gone, either via cut or a retirement, saving $2.95 million on the cap. Either way the decision needs to come fast as he is due a $2 million roster bonus early in the year and they don’t want that hitting the cap as is. This leaves only Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis remaining on the roster with no meaningful cap savings available. Robert Tonyan is an unrestricted free agent coming off a season-ending injury and I suspect the Packers allow him to hit free agency – maybe he comes back on the cheap. Unfortunately, if Tonyan doesn’t return he will still cost $1.88 million on the Packers cap in 2022 due to the backloading method the team used to get under the cap in 2021. Dominique Dafney is an exclusive rights free agent and should be back on a $895K deal. The Packers are probably banking on the continued development of Deguara to lead this group in 2022 but should look to add some more puzzle pieces via the draft or free agency.
