Packers To Extend TE Tucker Kraft

There was an urgency on the Packers’ part to get this done before opening their season on Sunday. General manager Brian Gutekunst said on Sept. 1 that he would “love to” have the 25-year-old Kraft under wraps by Week 1. Gutekunst accomplished his goal in locking up a key offensive weapon through 2030, and Kraft is now set to earn elite tight end money.

Kraft will average $18.75MM per season, meaning the tight end position is still without a $20MM-per-year player. The 49ers’ George Kittle ($19.1MM) and the Cardinals’ Trey McBride ($19MM) are the closest. Kraft checks in right behind them. He is also third in base value. Kittle is on a four-year, $76.4MM contract, while McBride inked a four-year, $76MM extension in 2025.

While Kraft is right behind Kittle and McBride in a couple of important categories, he is just outside the top five in guarantees among veteran TEs. McBride ($43MM), the Falcons’ Kyle Pitts ($36MM), Kittle ($35MM), the Bears’ Cole Kmet ($32.79MM) and the Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson ($30MM) are all comfortably ahead of Kraft. That’s a good outcome for the Packers, who typically do not include guaranteed money outside of signing bonuses. They made exceptions for quarterback Jordan Love and outside linebacker Micah Parsons on their mega extensions, but they avoided going down that path with Kraft and a slew of other players on pricey contracts.

As part of a two-TE draft class in 2023, the Gutekunst-led Packers took Luke Musgrave in the second round (No. 42) and Kraft in the third (No. 78). Although Kraft came off the board 36 picks later, he has turned into the better player.

After catching 31 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns during a 17-game rookie season, Kraft’s production skyrocketed in Year 2. The South Dakota State product started all 17 games in 2024, during which he racked up 50 receptions for 707 yards and seven scores.

With 32 catches, 489 yards and six touchdowns over his first eight games last year, Kraft was on a career-best pace. At the time, the 6-foot-5, 259-pounder ranked second at his position in TDs and third in yards. However, Kraft’s season ended in catastrophic fashion when he tore his ACL in a loss to the Panthers in Week 9. Losing Kraft (and later Parsons, who tore his ACL in a Week 14 loss to the Broncos) helped sink the Packers in the second half of 2025. Once 9-3-1, they limped to a 9-7-1 finish and collapsed against the NFC North rival Bears in the wild-card round.

If the Packers are going to rebound this year and overtake the defending champion Bears in the division, Kraft will probably have a lot to do with it. Ten months removed from last November’s injury, Kraft will face the division-rival Vikings on Sunday without any limitations. By extending Kraft, the Packers made it clear they are confident his knee will hold up.