41-year-old tight end Marcedes Lewis is currently a free agent, but he wants to sign with a new team for his 20th and final NFL season.
“I think mentally, I’m going into saying this is my last year,” Lewis told Kay Adams, adding that he’s still a durable, hard-working player despite his age.
His recent playing history supports his argument. Lewis appeared in all 34 regular-season games for the Bears over the last two years with eight starts and 621 snaps across offense and special teams. Before that, he started 49 straight games for the Packers from 2020 to 2022.
Overall, Lewis hasn’t missed a game since 2020 and has appeared in at least 15 games in 15 of his 19 seasons. He’s the NFL’s active leader in games played with 285, which also ranks 19th all-time. His 229 starts trail only Aaron Rodgers and Calais Campbell among active players and ranks 34th all-time.
If Lewis takes the field in 2025, he would become the first non-quarterback or -specialist to play for 20 years in the 21st century. He’s the second-longest-tenured player in the league behind Rodgers and the only player left from the 2006 draft, in which he was a first-round pick. That kicked off a 12-year stretch with the Jaguars, who only made the playoffs twice during Lewis’ tenure with several years at the bottom of the league. The veteran tight end credited the adversity he faced in Jacksonville as a reason he’s been able to play for so long.
Lewis joined the Packers in 2018 and called his five seasons there “some of the best years of my life.” He also said that his decision to move to Chicago in 2023 was partially to reunite with then-Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who worked with Lewis as an offensive assistant in Green Bay. Getsy is back with the Packers as a senior assistant, though Lewis didn’t offer any hints about another potential reunion.
