4 reasons the Green Bay Packers will disappoint fans in 2022

Reason no. 3 the Green Bay Packers will disappoint in 2022: Failure to upgrade at tight end

I’ll give Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst credit for one thing — he’s built himself a good-looking defense.

The Packers have invested so much in the defense in recent years, and it’s paying dividends for them.

Their defense looks like one of the best in the league going into the 2022 season. With that being said, their investments defensively have left other position groups on the roster leaving something to be desired, the tight end position among them.

This year’s free agent crop of tight ends was outstanding. The Packers had a chance to upgrade in a significant way at this position and they decided not to.

Robert Tonyan had an awesome 2020 season with 11 touchdowns, but his productivity took a massive step back in 2021 as he only played in eight games due to injury.

Regardless of his health, Tonyan’s effectiveness when on the field was vastly diminished compared to the previous year, and that is evidenced by the fact that the Packers were able to bring him back for just $3.75 million.

I don’t think this was the best move or the highest-upside move the Packers could have made at this position.

It certainly shouldn’t have been the only move.

I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why it was the Buffalo Bills — with a blossoming star in Dawson Knox — were the team to pull the trigger on signing former first-round pick OJ Howard to a modest one-year deal.

Why did the Packers not go after Austin Hooper, who has experience in this kind of offense?

Why not steal a younger player like Tyler Conklin away from the Vikings after a breakout season?

The Green Bay Packers also passed on players in the NFL Draft like Trey McBride and Greg Dulcich who could end up being studs at the position.

I don’t think Gutekunst did enough to upgrade at this position at all and it could come back to bite the Packers at some point.