8 Things We Learned From Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst held his pre-draft press conference Monday afternoon. Gutekunst walked to the podium, then told the world who he planned to select with the No. 23 pick Thursday night.

OK, so that didn’t happen. And per usual, Gutekunst did little to tip his hand.

But here are eight things we learned from Gutekunst with the draft now just three days away.

Fewer picks, same process

The Packers currently have seven total picks. In Gutekunst’s first seven drafts, he’s had an average of 10.3 picks with his fewest coming in 2019 (eight).

So does his process change with fewer picks?

“No, I don’t think so,” Gutekunst said. “I think there’s probably a little strategy difference. You know, as far as you’re going through things, because you just have more ammunition at the top, which is, probably makes things a little bit more flexible. But no, I don’t think there’s anything that changes how we go about it, building the board, or anything like that.”

Maybe, just maybe a wide receiver?

Gutekunst was reportedly the only general manager to attend the private workout of Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan last month. The Packers also brought McMillan in for one of their 30 pre-draft meetings.

Green Bay hasn’t drafted a wide receiver in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002. Could McMillan change that?

“He’s a third year junior coming out, so we’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Gutekunst said of McMillan. “So, it’s been good.”

Premium picks tough to part with

Gutekunst traded up in the first round for cornerback Jaire Alexander (No. 18) in 2018. He also moved up for quarterback Jordan Love in 2020 (No. 26).

Gutekunst admitted it’s tough to give up high draft picks to move up in Round 1, but there are times he believes it’s worth the risk.

“It’s a two for one, right?” Gutekunst said. “So he’s got to be pretty good player, and he’s got to, you know, I think he’s certainly got to fit a vision that we have for him, that could come in right away and be productive.

“But at the same time, those players do become available, and … it’s not like we wouldn’t do it. But I do think it’s, it’s a two for one, you know, and when you’re talking about premium picks, you know, first, second, third, maybe even fourth round type picks, you’re expecting those guys to be good players, right? So if you’re going to do it, it’s got to be a player worth that.”

More anything? More everything

Gutekunst has had 10 picks, or more, in four of his seven drafts. And he has said throughout this offseason he’d love to get more picks in this draft.

“I think certainly we’d love to, whether that’s where we do that or how we do that will really be dependent on the opportunities that are there and the players that are there,” he said. “We’re not going to pass up a really, really good player to move back unless we somehow still feel we can get that player. So we’ll see. Yeah, I’d like to have 15 (picks) every year if that would be just about right. I think there will be opportunities, but at the same time it’s such an unpredictable thing.”

Late round gems

College football players were granted an extra season due to the COVID year of 2020. Many others stay longer than they would have in the past because the NIL money is so lucrative.

That combination means the bottom of the draft is stronger than it’s been in recent memory. And Gutekunst believes he can find quality players in the later rounds, as well as with undrafted free agents.

“It’s a unique class,” Gutekunst said. “The numbers, particularly in the bottom of the draft, and even in free agency, undrafted college free agency, were just really high. I think there’s a ton of guys that came back that would have come out earlier, that came back and played because of NIL and the transfer portal.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys in this draft that played, you know, six, seven years in college, right? So, we’ve got a lot of older guys, 24- 25-year olds in this class, and we’ve had in the past. We’ll probably see that for a little while going the next few years, so that that has made it a little bit unique, because of the numbers.”

What quantifies success?

Gutekunst was asked what would make this a successful draft class.

“I think for us, it’s just a matter of, we take a lot of pride in the people that we bring into this locker room,” Gutekunst said. “We’re obviously chasing things that are really big around here and we’ve got a very good football team with some really good guys in that locker room, and the guys we bring into this locker room, to me, need to be the kind of guys that are going to fit into that culture and add to it.

“And so very year, this is an opportunity to do that. The culture of your football team comes from your players, and so that’s a big part of what we’re doing.”

Nothing new with Alexander

Gutekunst has been trying to trade disgruntled cornerback Jaire Alexander rather than release him.

Gutekunst was asked if there will be a resolution by Thursday?

“Yeah, we’ll work through that,” he said. “I don’t really have any updates on Jaire. He’s obviously on our roster right now. We’ll see how the draft goes and then see where we are at that point.”

Home sweet home!

With the draft in Green Bay this year, it will be a week of festivities around town.

That also means traffic will be nightmarish in the NFL’s smallest city.

When Gutekunst was asked how he got to Lambeau Field Monday, he joked, “I rode my bike.”

All kidding aside, Gutekunst knows what a special time this is for Green Bay.

“It’s been really cool to see the organization, the city, everybody rally around,” he said. “This is something I don’t think a lot of people thought could ever happen and whatever complications there are — trouble getting in and out of here, well worth it and just really excited to see how this thing comes together. I just think you’ve got to give (team president) Mark (Murphy) a lot of credit. This was obviously his vision and for him to be able to pull this off has been really cool to see.”