Things might be looking up for Tucker Kraft very soon. (Photo: Jacob Morley, 247Sports)
By Mark Eckel
Some time between now and the end of the season the Green Bay Packers are going to make Tucker Kraft the highest paid tight end in team history.
And they should.
Because Kraft might just become the best tight end in Packers history.
As it stands now, the Jeopardy! type response would be "Who is Paul Coffman'' if the clue was "He's the greatest tight end in Packers history.'' Some might argue Bubba Franks and there will always be a what-if concerning Jermichael Finley.
Coffman played in the '80s (his rookie season was 1979) for those high-powered Packers offenses and those low-powered Packers defenses. In 154 games as a Packer he caught 322 passes for 4,223 yards and 39 touchdowns. His best season was 1983 when he went 54-814-11.
Franks, the team's No.1 draft pick in 2000 out of the University of Miami, never lived up to his status as the 14th overall pick. Still he had a nice career. An excellent blocker, both in-line and downfield, in 122 games he caught 236 passes for 2,300 yards and 32 touchdowns. His finest season (54-442-7) came in 2002.
Then there was Finley, who may have risen to the top of the list if not for injuries that ended his career after just five seasons. In 70 games, Finley caught 233 passes for 2,785 yards and 20 touchdowns. His best season was 2011 when he put up 55-767-8 numbers.
Kraft is coming on a tough injury himself, a torn ACL suffered during the middle of the 2025 season. The 2023 third-round pick out of South Dakota State was Jordan Love's favorite target before the injury. Through the first eight games he had 32 receptions for 489 yards and six touchdowns. That put him on pace for 64-978-12 after 16 games (the same number the past tight ends played in a season). Those numbers would have easily topped any of his predecessors.
In his 42 games with the Packers in two-plus seasons Kraft has 113 receptions, 1557 yards and 15 touchdowns. After a 31-355-2 rookie season he had a 50-707-7 second season.
If he fully recovers from the ACL injury, stays on his current 42-game pace, and plays the same 154 games Coffman played, Kraft's numbers would dwarf the other tight ends. He would have 407 receptions, 5,605 yards and 54 touchdowns.
Of course there are assumptions, but there's also the case that Kraft could and probably will, get better.
So in a matter of months he'll be the highest paid tight end in team history and in a few years he'll also be the best.