Devin Funchess has not played since Week 1 of the 2019 season. The veteran pass catcher’s recent attempts to catch on with teams did not produce regular-season action, but he will receive another chance in a familiar place.
The Lions signed the former Michigan Wolverines standout and Detroit native Tuesday. They have listed the veteran as a tight end, which will mark a transition after his career outings have come at wide receiver. While Funchess, 28, was one of the NFL’s bigger wideouts, this will represent a challenge.
A four-year Panthers contributor, Funchess has been out of game action since suffering a season-ending injury in his 2019 Colts debut. Funchess signed with the Packers in 2020 but opted out of the league’s first COVID-19-impacted season. After his contract tolled to 2021, Funchess did not make Green Bay’s active roster. He spent part of last season on the 49ers’ practice squad.
In his receiver days, Funchess checked in at around 225 pounds. The 6-foot-4 target played a role on the Panthers’ Super Bowl 50-qualifying team as a rookie and led Carolina’s 2017 playoff-bound squad with a career-high 840 receiving yards; he scored eight touchdowns in that 2017 campaign. That season helped entice the Colts to sign him to a one-year, $10MM pact in 2019. A broken collarbone prevented Funchess from playing many snaps on that deal, and the ensuing developments have turned this Lions opportunity into a potential last-chance effort.
The Lions have T.J. Hockenson in place as their top tight end; unproven cogs line Detroit’s depth chart behind the starter. The team drafted James Mitchell in this year’s fifth round and signed Derrick Deese Jr. and Nolan Givan as UDFAs. Second-year UDFA Brock Wright is also on the roster. Mitchell and Deese have missed time during the Lions’ offseason program, giving Funchess an opportunity.
We will see for how long. He has not been significant for some time now.
Nice low risk gamble for a receiving tight end. Could work out as red zone threat.
Idk wasn’t his problem his hands?
“TE”?
Apparently Funchess is being moved. Given his lack of playing time recently, it’s not a complete shock. However, the reason that Funchess moved to WR in the pros to begin with is that he’s never been known as a blocker. In college, he was a WR playing TE essentially.
While he is quite large for a receiver, he’s on the slightly smaller side of TEs, at least at his previous playing weight. I would expect him to have gained weight since, and likely to have lost a step. I’m not sure if, just because he’s gained weight and gotten slower, that he’ll be better at TE than WR. This is all just speculation of course-what Funchess will really need is to demonstrate some ability to block at all to make this transition successful, especially with a coach like Campbell in charge.
I honestly just found it odd the article called him a TE and more or less skipped mentioning this. Good explanation.
Guess he had too many twinkees while he sat out. He never has been someone who ever really self motivated himself.
lmfao this guy has to be the biggest dummy
His listed weight is 225? That’s a solid 40 lbs off.