GREEN BAY – The Packers added depth and experience to their tight end room with signing of 10th-year veteran Jonnu Smith on Saturday.
The 6-foot-3, 248-pound tight end has 345 career receptions for 3,529 yards and 30 touchdowns in 141 regular-season games with 91 starts.
Here are five things to know about the new Packers tight end:
1. Smith played in Matt LaFleur's offense in Tennessee.
The Titans drafted Smith in the third round (No. 100 overall) out of FIU in 2017. He was in Tennessee when the Titans hired LaFleur as their offensive coordinator and play-caller in 2018.
Smith caught 20 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games (12 starts) during his season with LaFleur, highlighted by a 61-yard TD pass from Marcus Mariota.
LaFleur left to take the Packers' head-coaching position in 2019 while Smith took over for Delanie Walker as the Titans' primary tight end. Smith finished his four-year run in Tennessee with 114 catches for 1,302 yards and 16 touchdowns.
2. He's one year removed from his first Pro Bowl season.
Smith set career highs across the board after signing with Miami in 2024, catching 88 passes for 884 yards and eight TDs to earn his first Pro Bowl appearance.
He reset Miami's franchise record in all three categories, with Smith's catches for yards shattering two Randy McMichael team records that had stood for 20 years (73 catches for 791 yards in 2004).
Smith's eight TD catches surpassed the Dolphins' record jointly shared by Anthony Fasano (seven in 2008) and Keith Jackson (seven in 1994), who finished his career with Green Bay in 1996.
3. Smith has been traded twice in his NFL career.
The Packers are the sixth team for whom Smith has played. After signing as an unrestricted free agent with New England in 2021, Smith was traded to Atlanta two years later for a seventh-round pick.
After spending one season each with the Falcons and Dolphins, Smith was traded, along with cornerback Jalen Ramsey and a seventh-round pick, to Pittsburgh last year for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 first-round pick.
Smith's season in Pittsburgh coincided with the arrival of former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Smith played in all 17 regular-season games for the third straight season, catching 38 passes for 222 yards and two TDs.
4. Versatility and durability are Smith's strengths.
Smith has missed just eight regular-season games in nine NFL seasons and arrives in Green Bay riding a streak of playing in 53 consecutive games (including postseason).
Smith, who turned 31 last week, is also known for his ability to play anywhere on the offensive side of the ball, including the H-back role that is popular within LaFleur's offense in Green Bay.
Last year in Pittsburgh, Smith established new career highs on the ground with nine carries for 70 yards and a 14-yard rushing touchdown against his former team, the Dolphins.
5. Smith is no stranger to playing the Packers.
Despite playing only one of his previous nine seasons in the NFC, the veteran tight end has matched up against Green Bay five times.
His best performance came with the Dolphins in 2024 when Smith notched the second 100-yard receiving performance of his career in a 30-17 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field. Smith finished with 10 receptions that day for 113 yards, which remains his career high.
Smith also caught a touchdown in Green Bay during the COVID season in 2020 when he hauled in a 12-yard TD pass from Ryan Tannehill to get Tennessee on the board before halftime. The Packers won the game, 40-14.
His lone win against Green Bay came with the Falcons in 2023, catching four passes for 47 yards in a 25-24 Atlanta victory.
