Positional value aside, tight end is probably the most glaring need for the Green Bay Packers in 2023. Three of the four players from that position who finished the season in Green Bay will be free agents: Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, and Tyler Davis. The Packers only have three tight ends on their projected 90-man roster to start the league year in March. They have Josiah Deguara, a former third-round pick who’s a useful rotational piece, plus Austin Allen and Nick Guggemos, who finished the season on the practice squad and signed future deals.
The Packers must add new pieces, and tight end is a particularly difficult position to extract value from a rookie. Therefore, the best way to solve this issue is through free agency, and Hayden Hurst is the ideal name.
The Baltimore Ravens drafted Hurst in 2018, seven picks before they got quarterback Lamar Jackson. Mark Andrews ended up leapfrogging him, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good player. Later, Baltimore traded Hurst to the Atlanta Falcons. Last offseason, he signed a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals to replace C.J. Uzomah.
Hurst was not a focal point of Cincinnati’s offense, but he didn’t need to be.
Besides being a solid receiver, Hurst is also a decent blocker. The Packers could use a versatile tight end to match their “illusion of complexity” style of offense. For the last couple of years, the Packers have been forced to show their hand in each play because they haven’t had a complete player. Tonyan was the receiving tight end, Lewis was the blocker, and Deguara is the most versatile option. But he’s more of an h-back than a traditional in-line tight end.
“He can really move for his size,” Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton said during training camp. “He gives the quarterback a big frame to go across the middle. I feel like he’ll be a mismatch in our offense.”
If Aaron Rodgers decides to come back, it becomes more possible that Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis will re-sign. Rodgers mentioned them as important players he would like to play with if he returns. However, this scenario shouldn’t preclude general manager Brian Gutekunst from trying to get better at the position. If Rodgers leaves and Jordan Love becomes the starting quarterback, it would also be important to have a solid tight end to be a short-game alternative and a blocking reinforcement. Moreover, Hurst was a top-five tight end in yards after the catch in 2020, which shows his potential to be a force multiplier for the offense.
Hurst and Tonyan have been effective players since 2018. Tonyan was undrafted in 2017 and spent some time with the Detroit Lions and the Packers, but his first regular-season game came in his second season. Since then, Hurst has 1,607 yards and 14 touchdowns. Tonyan has 1,437 yards and 17 touchdowns (11 of them in the 2020 season).
Hurst’s two best seasons came exactly when he was the primary tight end. In 2020, Cincinnati traded him to the Falcons after three years behind Andrews, and Hurst had 56 receptions for 571 yards and six touchdowns. But then the Falcons drafted Kyle Pitts, which negatively impacted Hurst’s role and production. The former Raven and Falcon was the primary tight end again in 2022, even though the Bengals had a great wide receiver trio with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. He finished the year with 52 receptions, 414 yards, and two touchdowns.
Hurst had a 65.0 PFF grade this season, behind Marcedes Lewis (65.6, but Lewis is mostly an extra tackle) and much better than Tonyan’s 57.7.
Last offseason, Hurst signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Packers could agree to pay him something like a two-year, $8 million deal, with most of the cap hit going to 2024. And Green Bay would still have the option to select a tight end in the next draft. Hurst would be a good bridge player, giving the Packers a solid short-term answer, while Matt LaFleur and the offensive coaching staff develop a young piece behind him.
The Packers don’t have much cap space or willingness to spend big in free agency. However, Hayden Hurst is the type of low-key addition it’s imperative for a team to make, considering their lack of depth at the position.
