Look at what the roster was a year ago and you will see how long the Green Bay Packers transformation has gone at tight end. Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis spent the 2023 season with the Chicago Bears, and an influx of young talent arrived in Green Bay.

Right now, all tight ends under contract for next season were rookies this season — but, surprisingly, they had a high impact right away: Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, and Ben Sims finished the season on the 53-man roster. Tight end/fullback hybrid Henry Pearson and Joel Wilson were on the practice squad and signed future deals.

With that in mind, it will be tough to justify a roster spot for the only two tight ends that were kept from 2022 to 2023: Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis. Now, they are both slated to be unrestricted free agents.

Josiah Deguara

Deguara is the most relevant one here because the Packers really liked him. So much so that general manager Brian Gutekunst took him in the third round in the 2020 NFL Draft. However, his game hasn't taken off.

In his first year, Deguara tore his ACL in the second game and missed most of the season. Since then, he's been a fullback/h-back type, with inconsistent blocking skills and limited receiving impact.

His best season was 2021, when he had 245 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2023, there was an expectation that his role would increase with Jordan Love, but that never happened. It was actually his worst receiving season since 2020, with only eight receptions for 65 yards. He finished the season with a 52.3 PFF grade, which included a bad 35.1 pass blocking grade.

Matt LaFleur has mentioned he envisions three types of tight ends — receivers, in-line players, and h-backs. Deguara was supposed to be the best h-back, but his role is too small, and the Packers will have Henry Pearson at a cheaper price to make the same things.

At this point, it's hard to justify a roster spot for Deguara.

Tyler Davis

The situation isn't much different for Tyler Davis, a player whom the Packers staff seemed to love. He was a sixth-round pick in 2020 by the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent time with the Indianapolis Colts before arriving in Green Bay in 2021. The 2022 preseason was tough for him, with drops and fumbles. The Packers kept him around, though, because of his special teams contributions.

He was expected to have a large role in that area in 2023, but a torn ACL in the preseason prematurely ended his year. The Packers could certainly keep Davis for the veteran minimum salary, but with younger options with higher ceilings, it's probably not worth it.

With all the successful moves the Packers made in 2023 to improve their tight end room, bottom of the roster veterans lost ground, and there's little reason to take snaps away from the younger pieces. Deguara and Davis will probably have to look elsewhere to stay in the NFL.

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