The Green Bay Packers will have a different experience in two weeks. The draft is always a special moment, but this year it's particularly impactful because the event is in Green Bay, around Lambeau Field.
However, a well-run organization must know how to separate the event and the process of taking players, and that's how the Packers are ultimately approaching the situation.
Even though there has been a talk on social media that Green Bay would never trade out of the first round in these circumstances, president/CEO Mark Murphy made it clear: If that's the best scenario for the team, general manager Brian Gutekunst can pull the trigger.
"I've told Brian Gutekunst that if it's the best thing for the Packers to trade out of the first round, go ahead and do it," Murphy told ESPN Milwaukee. "So yeah, those rumors are not true."
Track record
To be fair, though, Brian Gutekunst doesn't seem to be a big enthusiast of trading down in the first round. The only time he did it, in his first draft as a general manager in 2018, it was a unique situation. The Packers traded down from 14 to 27, and then back up to 18 to select cornerback Jaire Alexander, adding a future first-rounder in the process.
In other instances, the Packers have been more active to trade up—and they did it in 2019 to take safety Darnell Savage and in 2020 to select quarterback Jordan Love. In each of the past three drafts, the Packers selected where they were spotted to do in the first round.
Gutekunst seems more willing to trade down in later rounds—in 2023, for example, he moved down twice from 45 to 48 to 50 before selecting wide receiver Jayden Reed. The extra picks resulted in fellow receiver Dontayvion Wicks and defensive tackle Karl Brooks.
The last time the Packers traded out of the first round ended up not generating a successful outcome. In 2017, former GM Ted Thompson bypassed the opportunity to draft TJ Watt moving down from 29 to 33, the first pick of the second round, with the Cleveland Browns. Green Bay took cornerback Kevin King, and then used the extra fourth-rounder to select edge defender Vince Biegel.
Final moments
This is also Mark Murphy's final draft as the president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers. He is close to 70, the mandatory retirement age for the position, and the franchise has already picked his successor, Ed Policy.
Currently, the 54-year-old executive is the chief operating officer (COO) and general counsel, and he will be promoted to the CEO/president position in July.
