Green Bay Packers, NFL Free Agency

Packers sign Devin Funchess: Grades, reaction and more

Devin Funchess will attempt to revitalize his career with the Green Bay Packers, with the former Carolina Panther expected to join their receiving corps.

Devin Funchess is expected to sign for the Green Bay Packers, with the former second-round pick set to join the third team of his NFL career after an unsuccessful spell with the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the Packers will ink Funchess to a deal.

Funchess adds depth to a receiving corps lacking proven options outside of Davante Adams.

He will join the Packers with low expectations after he played only one game in his single season with the Colts. A broken collarbone led Indianapolis to place him on injured reserve after Week 1.

Contract Details

The details surrounding Funchess’ arrival in Green Bay have yet to be reported.

National reaction

The Packers taking a flier on a previously high draft pick like Funchess is no surprise. Despite Allen Lazard’s improvement and the flashes displayed by Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Aaron Rodgers is still a quarterback short of weapons.

However, the problem is that Funchess is an awkward fit for Matt LaFleur’s offense. If LaFleur’s attack is to prosper to the same level as those of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, it will need receivers who can separate.

That is not Funchess. The former Carolina Panther offers size at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds and can be a legitimate threat in the red zone, but breaking away from defenders is not something he has excelled at.

Still only 25, the Packers will hope Funchess can reprise the form of 2017, when he totaled 840 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

It is not clear how much the Packers have bet on his ability to do so. Regardless of the numbers, his signing will not prohibit Green Bay from adding more weapons for Rodgers to work with in next month’s draft.

Yet if he is able to stick on the team and contribute consistently, this third-wave signing will prove an astute one by general manager Brian Gutekunst.

Grade: C

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