The Green Bay Packers haven’t played in the Super Bowl in more than a decade, but general manager Brian Gutekunst still thinks his team is more than good enough to get there.
So when asked about the Packers’ plans to address their most glaring need at the upcoming NFL Draft, Gutekunst offered a bold view point.
“If we had to go play next week, I feel good about our roster across the board,” Gutekunst said Monday in a post on Packers.com. “I feel like we could win and go compete — really across the board. Hopefully as this draft unfolds, we’re able to just sit back and select the best player that falls to us.”
The Packers’ play has backed up Gutekunst’s confidence, since they have reached the playoffs in five of the past six seasons and won at least one postseason game in four of those years.
Led by quarterback Jordan Love’s breakout season, Green Bay won 11 games in 2024 yet finished third in the loaded NFC North. The Packers lost in the wild-card round to the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and have been eliminated in the playoffs by the eventual NFC champs in four of head coach Matt Lafleur’s six seasons.
The Packers Could Look to Bolster Their Receiving Corps or Defense
Still, Green Bay will have the opportunity to keep improving with eight selections at the upcoming draft — which it will host for the first time in more than 80 years. The Packers’ first selection is No. 23 overall, a solid spot to land an impact player, though Gutekunst admitted the pressure will likely be off their first-round pick, at least in Year 1.
“I think you’d love to (have him play right away). It’s great when they do, but that’s not always the case,” Gutekunst said. “The transition to the National Football League is tough. It’s not always easy. A lot of times it’s really determined by opportunity.”
Gutekunst may be high on his roster, but most pundits agree Green Bay’s defense and receiving corps can use reinforcements. Green Bay was tied for 14th in the NFL in receiving-yards against per game (232.9), and the Packers’ receiving corps is still waiting for a No. 1 option to avail itself.
That is why The Athletic’s Dane Brugler suggests the Packers will choose cornerback Will Johnson from Michigan in the first round, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has them Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams in the first then selecting Jack Bech from TCU in the second round in his latest mock draft.
‘The Unpredictability Is Real,’ Gutekunst Said
Still, whether Green Bay ends up with one of those players — or even targeting an impact player on ‘D’ in the first round — will only be determined by what the teams in front of it does.
“The unpredictability is real,” Gutekunst said. “We take a lot of pride in the people that we bring into this locker room. 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.”
But talent is only one of the facets Gutekunst is targeting, since being a solid citizen is important in professional sports’ smallest market.
“The guys we bring in, to me, need to be the kind of guys that are going to fit into that culture and add to it,” Gutekunst said. “Every 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.”
