41-year-old tight finish Marcedes Lewis is at present a free agent, however he needs to signal with a brand new staff for his twentieth and ultimate NFL season.
“I believe mentally, I’m going into saying that is my final 12 months,” Lewis told Kay Adams, including that he’s nonetheless a sturdy, hard-working participant regardless of his age.
His latest taking part in historical past helps his argument. Lewis appeared in all 34 regular-season video games for the Bears during the last two years with eight begins and 621 snaps throughout offense and particular groups. Earlier than that, he began 49 straight video games for the Packers from 2020 to 2022.
Total, Lewis hasn’t missed a sport since 2020 and has appeared in not less than 15 video games in 15 of his 19 seasons. He’s the NFL’s energetic chief in video games performed with 285, which additionally ranks nineteenth all-time. His 229 begins path solely Aaron Rodgers and Calais Campbell amongst energetic gamers and ranks thirty fourth all-time.
If Lewis takes the sector in 2025, he would develop into the primary non-quarterback or -specialist to play for 20 years within the twenty first century. He’s the second-longest-tenured participant within the league behind Rodgers and the one participant left from the 2006 draft, by which he was a first-round choose. That kicked off a 12-year stretch with the Jaguars, who solely made the playoffs twice throughout Lewis’ tenure with a number of years on the backside of the league. The veteran tight finish credited the adversity he confronted in Jacksonville as a motive he’s been capable of play for thus lengthy.
Lewis joined the Packers in 2018 and known as his 5 seasons there “a few of the finest years of my life.” He additionally stated that his determination to maneuver to Chicago in 2023 was partially to reunite with then-Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who labored with Lewis as an offensive assistant in Inexperienced Bay. Getsy is again with the Packers as a senior assistant, although Lewis didn’t supply any hints about one other potential reunion.
