For the Green Bay Packers, finding a reliable tight end in recent years has proven to be incredibly difficult. Jermichael Finley's career ended in 2013 and since then Green Bay hasn't had any sort of consistent production from the position. 

Now, to the credit of former GM Ted Thompson and current GM Brian Gutekunst, they've worked hard to try to solve the issue and they've invested quite a bit of capital into it, which shows the importance of the position. However, up to this point, it just hasn't worked out. 

Richard Rogers was an okay player, and Jared Cook has probably been the best of the bunch but even he only appeared in 10 regular season games during his one season in Green Bay.

Then there was Martellus Bennett, which ended horribly. The following year the Packers would bring in Jimmy Graham and make him the highest-paid tight end on a per-year basis in the NFL. Along with the additions of Marcedes Lewis and Lance Kendricks. And finally, just this past offseason we would see the Packers spend some early-round draft capital on the position with the selection of Jace Sternberger in Round 3. 

On paper all of these moves seem like they should have worked, or at the very least, one of them should have hit. But that hasn't been the case and as we look ahead to the 2020 NFL season, once again, there are still question marks surrounding the tight end position in Green Bay. 

Heading into this upcoming season there is certainly a lot of excitement around Sternberger, and rightfully so. Shortly after the season ended, Lewis told Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com "he's going to be a good one," when talking about Sternberger. In a separate interview, Gutekunst would go on to say that, "he's a matchup problem for linebackers and safeties." Certainly high praise for the soon to be second-year player. 

Although limited, in 2019 we saw that Sternberger is a willing blocker, he's able to get open, and he flashed in the passing game as well, even though he wasn't targeted very often. And much of the same can be said about Robert Tonyan, who is an exclusive rights free agent but is likely to be back in Green Bay. 

With that said, the transition from college to the NFL for a tight end is one of the more difficult jumps that there is. In addition to just becoming acclimated to play at the NFL level, young tight ends have to understand the blocking techniques and responsibilities of an offensive lineman, while also being well versed in the routes and responsibilities that wide receivers have. This is a big reason why we rarely see rookie tight ends make a big impact and even in Year 2, there is certainly no guarantee.  

So with Graham now officially cut and Lewis a free agent, that just leaves the Packers with Sternberger and Tonyan, who between the two of them, have only three combined starts in their careers. While the potential is certainly there, is fully relying on a second and third-year player with limited experience something Green Bay should be banking on? I say no. 

Now having said that, I certainly don't think that Sternberger should be stashed away on the bench. I expect him to play a much bigger role in 2020, but having a veteran alongside of him as he continues to develop could prove to be very valuable. And even if Green Bay doesn't land prized free agent Austin Hooper, who they have been linked to, bringing back a veteran like Lewis, or signing Charles Clay, or Eric Ebron for example, and having someone else to lean on if Sternberger is going through a rough stretch would be ideal.

A veteran presence is going to help provide stability at the position in what could end up being an up and down season for the young Sternberger.

Of course, the draft is always an option as well but for the reasons that I mentioned above about the transition from college to the NFL along with this year's tight end class not being very deep, I think a veteran addition would be the more appropriate move. 

The tight end position in Green Bay is one that needs to be solved, it just can't continue to be a yearly issue that is addressed every offseason. The good news is that with Sternberger they appear to be on the right track but I don't know that they should be putting all of their eggs in that basket at this point in his career. So when the free agency period begins, let's get him some help and get this position right this time.