Brian Gutekunst has Shown he will Attack Positions of Need Aggressively

In his short tenure as GM of the Green Bay Packers, Brian Gutekunst has already shown that he will attack positions of need aggressively during the offseason.

During the Ted Thompson era with the Green Bay Packers, while he hit on many of his draft picks and made a few splash free-agent signings – Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers – especially towards the end of his tenure, many fans were frustrated with his lack of aggressiveness when it came to addressing team needs.

That unwillingness to sign free agents, missing on draft picks at the end, along with an over-reliance on Day 3 selections and undrafted rookies, left a number of huge holes that Brian Gutekunst has had to fill.

And while he has shown that he still sticks to many of the same principles that Thompson did, in his short time as the Green Bay Packers’ GM, Gutey has also shown that he will attack any major needs quite aggressively in free agency and in the draft.

During the 2018 offseason, after struggling to find any sort of consistent production from the tight end position for a few seasons, Gutey would go out and sign Jimmy Graham to a contract that made him the highest-paid tight end on a per-year basis.

Now, looking back that move obviously didn’t pan out at all. But when you make aggressive moves, you’re going to swing and miss at times.

Another hole to fill that offseason was at cornerback. So Gutey would sign Tramon Williams in free agency, then with some maneuvering within the first round, he’d land Jaire Alexander. And then in round two, he would select Josh Jackson. Also in an attempt to find a complementary player to Blake Martinez, Gutekunst traded up in round three that year to select Oren Burks.

Then this past offseason, with huge holes at edge-rusher, safety, and the interior offensive line, Gutekunst would once again get to work.

As we all know, he signed Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith in free agency, then would spend the 12th overall pick on Rashan Gary. At safety, he would sign Adrian Amos and then trade up for Darnell Savage. And lastly, on the interior offensive line, Gutey would sign Billy Turner and select Elgton Jenkins in the second round.

So now as we look ahead to the 2019 free agency period and the NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers have three huge holes to fill at the wide receiver, tackle and inside linebacker.

The good news is that this year’s draft class is loaded at the receiver position and elite linebackers like Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen could be available when the Packers are on the clock. Not to mention that there are a few decent free agent options at linebacker as well. As far as tackle goes, hopefully, they are able to re-sign Bryan Bulaga and then spend some draft capital on his eventual replacement.

Looking back at Gutekunst’s first two offseasons, it’s clear that he likes to remedy Green Bay’s positional needs with a veteran signed via free agency, as well as spending some draft capital on that same position as well

However, something to keep in mind is that unlike in 2019, this year Green Bay just doesn’t have the same spending power that they did a year ago. And while that doesn’t mean they can’t make any free agent signings, it just won’t look like the previous offseason did and Gutekunst will have to be more creative in how he solves these issues.

Although this is only Brian Gutekunst’s third offseason as the Green Bay Packers GM, in his short tenure, he has already shown that he will attack any major team needs aggressively. While that may be a bit more challenging this offseason given the Packers cap situation, it’s also reassuring to know that he will likely go out and take care of the team needs.