Difficult to see how WR Devin Funchess fills need for Packers

Receivers starting flying off the shelves in free agency, so the Green Bay Packers did some panic shopping Tuesday.

The team agreed to terms with free agent receiver Devin Funchess.

It’s difficult to see how Funchess fills a need in Green Bay, even for the receiver-needy Packers. He has good size (6-4, 225), but the Packers depth chart at receiver is already littered with big bodies. He’s not measurably fast or athletic. He has struggled to separate from man-to-man coverage and catch the football throughout his NFL career. True consistency for Funchess has remained elusive.

Between 2015 and 2018, only two receivers in the NFL with more than 300 total targets caught a lower percentage of those targets than the 51.8 percent Funchess caught with the Carolina Panthers.

Not surprisingly, the Panthers moved on after his rookie contract expired. The Indianapolis Colts did the same after Funchess broke his collarbone in Week 1 and missed the rest of the 2019 season.

The Packers are taking a low-risk flier on a veteran who played in one game last season. Best case scenario, he emerges as a legit contributor for the Packers passing offense. Worst case, he’s a bust and he’s cut during camp. As is often the case, he’ll probably wind up somewhere in between. And as long as his addition doesn’t impact what the Packers are planning to do in the draft, there should be no long-term consequences of signing him, even if he’s no good come August.

It’s just an underwhelming signing. To be fair, the free-agent class of pass-catchers was nothing if not underwhelming. The Packers decided against paying good money in the receiver and tight end market and settled on a former second-round pick at little cost to add to the competition. To that end, it’s hard to argue against the thinking.

But now the Packers must nail the draft, both at receiver and likely at tight end. GM Brian Gutekunst must find a complementary piece (or two?) for Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, who are still the two best receivers on the roster. The offense needs a quick playmaker capable of getting open on his own. And possibly even a legit vertical threat if Marquez Valdes-Scantling can’t rebound.

Funchess is a known name, but his first five seasons suggest he’s a middling talent who won’t drastically the team’s biggest need on offense. The Packers need to do more at receiver. They likely will.