Packers Re-Sign Veteran Tight End Lewis
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have re-signed Marcedes Lewis, with the venerable and well-respected tight end coming back for his fourth season with the team.
In 2018 and again in 2019 and 2020, Lewis signed one-year deals. This time, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it’s a two-year deal worth $8 million.
“I think for those of you that are around our team on a day-to-day basis,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said earlier this month, “not only does his play really impact our team both in the run game and in the pass game, but his leadership for our football team, to go from where we were kind of in ‘18 to ‘19 and ‘20, it was really, really important. 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 so he's very important to Matt 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.”
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Gutekunst had to talk Lewis out of retiring following the 2018 season in which he played less than a dozen snaps per game under then-coach Mike McCarthy. Bringing him back was one of the GM’s many understated moves.
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Lewis’ impact went far beyond the box score. He caught 10 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns in 2020, giving him a three-year total in Green Bay of 28 receptions for 302 yards and four touchdowns. He’s a rugged blocker – one of the best in the NFL and the class of this year’s free agents – and quality role player and leader. Robert Tonyan credited Lewis for his transition from undrafted receiver to big-play tight end.
“When it comes to Marcedes, I don't know if anybody can do what he does,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said early this month. “He did some amazing things last year and he's kind of that unsung hero, that he does so many things for our team that go unnoticed at times because they might not be the flashy touchdowns or whatever it might be, but it's hard to replace a guy like that.”
Lewis will turn 37 on May 19 but is still going strong. He played 422 snaps in 2020 (40.6 percent), down only slightly compared to 2019 (487 snaps; 45.2 percent).
Speaking before the NFC Championship Game, he sounded like someone with no inclination of retiring.
“I’m gritty, I’m tough and I bring that mentality,” he said. “So, to be able to still win at a high rate given as physical as I’ve been, it’s just a blessing. It’s how it was supposed to be and how, just taking advantage of it. I feel like every year, it’s like, ‘OK, let’s see where we are,’ and then we get towards the end of the year and I’m like, ‘Oh, I still feel really good.’ and I know it comes from my routine that I’ve had for over 10 years now, as far as making sure that my body is in the best shape it can be. Yeah, man, it’s definitely a blessing.”
Once upon a time, Lewis was a dual-threat tight end. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ first-round pick in 2006, he averaged 43 receptions during a six-year span from 2007 through 2012 and scored 10 touchdowns in 2010. Now, Lewis is a rough-and-tumble blocker who relishes doing the dirty work as a key part of coach Matt LaFleur’s offense. His tenacity, wisdom and leadership ability have made him a valuable and respected member of the team.
“We’ve been talking a lot about how a positive wave can be so powerful, and I feel like we have that wave building and it's been building and building and building,” MVP quarterback and close friend Aaron Rodgers said before the NFC Championship Game. “It's kind of been backboned by so many great people, like Big Dog, who won't show up in the stat sheet a whole lot. But he is such a special human and greatest, in my opinion, blocking tight end, definitely of his generation.
“But what he brings from a personal standpoint, you can't quantify that. You really can't. You can't put a stat on that, but you can feel it. It's palpable. It's tangible. You can really reach out and touch that energy and that positivity and that love that he has for the guys, for myself. He's such a support beam for me. I can lean on him. He's like a big oak tree. He's taken care of all of us and there's a lot of guys who have brought special energy to the team.”
