The Green Bay Packers agreed Thursday to a one-year contract with veteran tight end Jonnu Smith, adding a proven pass-catcher to a position group that has looked thin throughout the offseason.
NFL insider Adam Schefter reported the move, writing, “Packers are signing free-agent TE Jonnu Smith to a one-year deal, as @Schultz_Report also reported.”
The timing of the deal points to Green Bay bracing for life without Luke Musgrave at the start of the regular season. Musgrave opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list with a neck injury and has not practiced since.
If the former second-round pick remains on the PUP list when the season begins, he will miss the first six games. Signing Smith gives the Packers a veteran who can step in immediately behind Tucker Kraft.
Josh Whyle spent last season in Green Bay and remains on the roster. Coaches have spoken well of him, but he was released by the Tennessee Titans a year earlier and is widely seen as a depth piece rather than a featured option.
Drake Dabney had been making a push to stick as a blocker who could spell Kraft. That path now looks more crowded. Messiah Swinson, a former wide receiver still learning the tight end position, has no NFL game experience.
Green Bay also brought in McCallan Castles and Thomas Yassmin this offseason mainly to fill out the room during camp. Neither was viewed as a strong candidate to be the No. 2 tight end.
The addition of Smith reshuffles the depth chart. He is expected to work behind Kraft, with Whyle sliding back into a third-tight-end role and Dabney facing a tougher fight to make the 53-man roster.
Smith, 31, is entering his 10th NFL season. The Titans selected him in the third round of the 2017 draft out of Florida International.
He spent four seasons in Tennessee and finished with 114 receptions for 1,302 yards. New England then signed him to pair with Hunter Henry in a two-tight-end look under Bill Belichick.
The fit never quite clicked. Smith caught 55 passes for 539 yards over two years with the Patriots before moving on.
A one-year stop in Atlanta produced 50 catches for 582 yards. The following season in Miami became the high-water mark of his career.
Smith hauled in 88 passes for 884 yards and earned his first Pro Bowl berth with the Dolphins. Miami later traded him to Pittsburgh, where he never found the same rhythm with Aaron Rodgers.
Last season with the Steelers he finished with 38 receptions for 222 yards. That modest output helped explain why he remained unsigned this late in the calendar.
Green Bay is betting the two productive seasons before Pittsburgh still show what Smith can do when the role is right. How the Packers handle the position once Musgrave is healthy again remains the next question.
