With the Green Bay Packers only having one healthy tight end on the roster right now, many Packers fans were hoping that the team could pick up an old friend — Marcedes Lewis — off the Denver Broncos’
practice squad. Those dreams were crushed on Christmas Day, when the Broncos promoted Lewis to their 53-man roster, meaning that the Packers no longer have the opportunity to poach him.
Lewis played five seasons in Green Bay from 2018 to 2022. Over that time, he suited up for 81 games and made 64 starts as a blocking tight end. This year, he’s played in four games for the Broncos as a 41-year-old.
The Packers lost starting tight end Tucker Kraft to an ACL tear against the Carolina Panthers in November. They also lost blocking tight end John FitzPatrick to an Achilles tear last week. On top of that, Josh Whyle is in his second week in the NFL’s concussion protocol, and former 53-man roster member Ben Sims was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Vikings, when the Packers were trying to shake up their active roster and hoped to land Sims back on the practice squad.
This series of events leaves just Luke Musgrave as a healthy member of the 53-man roster at the position. The Packers have two practice squadders at tight end, McCallan Castles and Drake Dabney, who were both signed to the team following Kraft’s season-ending injury. Neither was called up last week, when Green Bay went into the Chicago Bears game with just two tight ends on the gameday roster.
