Packers Free Agents Stay or Go: Marcedes Lewis
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have 14 players who are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents this offseason, including revered tight end Marcedes Lewis.
Going in alphabetical order, our “Stay or Go” series will look at each of those players in advance of the official start of free agency on March 15. Why should the Packers re-sign Lewis? Why should they let him go? Is there a replacement on the roster? Could they get a compensatory draft pick in exchange?
Packers Should Re-Sign Marcedes Lewis
The Packers will convene for the start of offseason workouts on April 17. About a month later, on May 19, Lewis will turn 39. Signing a 39-year-old tight end coming off a season of six receptions would be foolish, right?
In most cases, sure. But Lewis is different.
Among nonquarterbacks, Lewis was the oldest player in the NFL to start more than one game in 2022. Lewis, in fact, started all 17 games. He’s started 46 consecutive games, the longest active streak among tight ends.
Lewis starts because he’s good. He remains one of the best run-blocking tight ends in the NFL. You can argue the value of the player grades at Pro Football Focus. But, for what it’s worth, out of 45 tight ends who played at least 200 run-blocking snaps last year, Lewis’ run-blocking grade ranked fifth. If Aaron Jones got around the corner, it’s because Big Dog took care of business at the point of attack. Plus, he allowed only two pressures out of his 73 pass-protecting snaps.