Packer Central

Packers Learn Amounts to Tender Tonyan

How much money do the Green Bay Packers want to commit to tight end Robert Tonyan given their salary-cap issues?

Bill Huber

GREEN BAY, Wis. – How much will it cost the Green Bay Packers to retain tight end Robert Tonyan?

The NFL released the restricted free-agent tender amounts on Friday. As reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the first-round tender is $4.766 million, the second-round tender is $3.384 million and the right-of-first-refusal tender is $2.133 million.

Tendering a quality restricted free agent such as Tonyan, who tied Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce for No. 1 among tight ends with 11 touchdown receptions, is a lot like playing a game of chicken. The lesser tender, the lesser the cost – a critical component given the Packers’ salary-cap constraints – but also the greater the risk of losing the player.

With the right-of-first-refusal tender, the Packers can retain Tonyan by matching any offer but would get nothing in return if they let him depart because he entered the league as an undrafted free agent. The first- and second-round tenders work the same but the Packers would gain the corresponding draft pick for losing the player.

Tonyan, a former quarterback and receiver at Indiana State, gave the Packers the threat at tight end they failed to receive from veterans Martellus Bennett, Jared Cook and Jimmy Graham at a fraction of the price.

After showing bits and pieces of his potential in 2018 and 2019, Tonyan was a breakout star this year with 52 receptions for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns. Of the 34 tight ends who were targeted at least 40 times in the passing game, Tonyan was No. 1 in catch percentage (89.7), drop percentage (0.0) and passer rating (148.3), according to Pro Football Focus. In the bizarro world that is Pro Bowl voting, he lost out to the Giants’ Evan Engram, who had more receptions (63) and yards (654) but lagged far behind in touchdowns (one), catch percentage (61.8), drop percentage (11.3) and passer rating (59.8).

Tonyan is one of Green Bay’s six restricted free agents. Cornerback Chandon Sullivan, defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster, safety Raven Greene, quarterback Tim Boyle and cornerback Parry Nickerson. None of those five are expected to be tendered. Restricted free agents who are not tendered become unrestricted free agents.

Restricted free agents have three seasons of NFL service time. Unrestricted free agents have four-plus seasons.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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