Packers Making Big Addition at WR with Funchess

Devin Funchess, a 6-foot-4 receiver taken in the second round in 2015, missed most of last year with a broken collarbone.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 24, 2020 8:56 PM EDT

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers, with a big need at receiver, signed a big receiver.

As first reported by NFL Network and confirmed by a source, the Packers have come to terms with free-agent receiver Devin Funchess. The 6-foot-4 Funchess, a second-round pick out of Michigan by the Carolina Panthers in 2015, has career numbers of 164 receptions for 2,265 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Funchess, who will turn 26 on May 21, signed a one-year deal with Indianapolis last offseason but suffered a broken collarbone in the opener and missed the entire season. For the Colts’ $10 million investment, they got three receptions.

In 2018, his final season with the Panthers, he caught 44 passes for 549 yards (12.5 average) and four touchdowns in 14 games.

Video: Unsigned Packers free agents

At the 2015 Scouting Combine, Funchess measured 6-foot-4 and 232 pounds. He ran his 40 in 4.70 seconds, though he posted a 38.5-inch vertical leap. With size, length and jumping ability, he was billed as a receiver who would create matchup problems. That wasn’t quite the case, though. While former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was hardly the league’s most accurate passer, his career catch rate is just 51.8 percent.

Of 109 receivers who were targeted at least 32 times in 2018, Funchess ranked 96th among receivers with a 12.0 percent drop rate (six drops), according to Pro Football Focus. In his four healthy seasons, Sports Info Solutions charged Funchess with 20 drops. He had drop rates of 11 percent or worse in three of those seasons. Drops were a big problem coming out of Michigan, too, with a three-year total of 20 drops.

But, with the top receivers plucked off what was a bad free-agent market, general manager Brian Gutekunst elected to take the plunge on a receiver with some proven production and a hard-to-miss trait.

"I do like tall, long athletes," Gutekunst said before the Scouting Combine.

In two career meetings, Funchess caught 3-of-4 passes for 71 yards and one touchdown in Carolina’s 37-29 win over Green Bay in 2015 and 1-of-4 passes for 19 yards in Carolina’s 31-24 victory in 2017.