The Green Bay Packers have re-signed TE Robert Tonyan. General Manager Brian Gutekunst announced the transaction Monday.
"We are excited to come to an agreement that brings Robert back to Green Bay," said Gutekunst. "Through his approach and dedication he developed into an important part of our offense and we are confident he will come back stronger from his injury because of the person he is and how hard he works."
Tonyan (TUN-yin), a 6-foot-5, 240 pound fifth-year player out of Indiana State, was originally signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He joined the Packers as a member of the practice squad on Dec. 5, 2017. Tonyan has played in 51 games with 15 starts in his career, registering 84 receptions for 967 yards (11.5 avg.) and 15 touchdowns. He started five of eight games he played in last year before a knee injury ended his season.
In 2020, Tonyan played in all 16 games with eight starts and ranked No. 2 on the team with a career-high 52 receptions for 586 yards (11.3 avg.) and 11 TDs, tying the single-season franchise record (Paul Coffman, 1983) for the most TD catches by a tight end. He was tied for No. 1 in the league in TD receptions among tight ends (Travis Kelce), becoming the first Packer to rank first in the league among TEs since Bubba Franks (tied for No. 1 in 2002). Tonyan was only the second TE in franchise annals to register 45-plus catches, 500-plus receiving yards and nine-plus receiving TDs in a season (Coffman, 54-814-11 in 1983). He ranked No. 4 among NFL tight ends (min. 50 rec.) in 2020 with an average of 11.3 yards per catch.
