In the final years of Ted Thompson as the general manager, the basic consensus concern regarding the Green Bay Packers management was the lack of activity outside of the draft. And while the draft and develop model has still been the base, Brian Gutekunst has shown the ability to find important pieces to the roster in other avenues as well.
“I look forward to getting to work with the rest of our talented personnel department and using every avenue available to build the Packers into a championship team again,” said Gutekunst when he was promoted to general manager in January 2018.
And, to different degrees throughout his tenure, that’s exactly what he has done.
2018
In his first year as a GM, Gutekunst was trying to retool a lagged roster. But he also wanted to make the team compete as much as possible, so he found stopgap starting linebacker Antonio Morrison in a trade with the Colts for cornerback Lenzy Pipkins, who wouldn’t make the roster anyway. Morrison wasn’t great, but was serviceable during his single year in Green Bay.
Gutekunst’s willingness to find reinforcements throughout the year paid off in May, when he signed tight end Marcedes Lewis and guard Byron Bell. Bell didn’t play well as a starter, but Lewis is still on the roster.
Remember when LaDarius Gunter was the best Packers corner in the NFCCG guarding Julio Jones against the Falcons? This is something that wouldn’t happen under Gutekunst. In September, when Davon House suffered a shoulder injury, the GM found an immediate replacement in Bashaud Breeland, who was available after an injury had prevented him from signing with the Panthers months before. Another useful late addition was Ibraheim Campbell, a safety claimed off waivers from the Jets.
But Gutekunst’ best move that season came in December. With the team out of contention and with head coach Mike McCarthy fired, the general manager used the last games to test some players. With that logic, the Packers signed wide receiver Allen Lazard from the Jaguars’ practice squad. Lazard has developed into a reliable weapon — and now enters 2022 with the potential to be WR1.
2019
Gutekunst again tried to find a decent off-ball linebacker and made a late-round swap to acquire BJ Goodson from the Giants. It was also the biggest outside free agency spending spree in Packers history — the team added Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos, and Billy Turner in a couple of hours.
But the idea of looking for talent everywhere paid off again when Gutekunst signed nickel corner Chandon Sullivan, who had gotten cut by the Eagles. Malik Taylor, who is still on the roster, was also signed after being waived by the Bucs.
By the end of the season, the Packers would have added two more important pieces: swing tackle Jared Veldheer and returner Tyler Ervin, and both players contributed to the run that ended in the NFCCG.
2020
In a year that ended up being the best so far from the Packers under Gutekunst, he started the offseason repeating previous methods to give the roster some depth, signing two low-key free agents: linebacker Christian Kirksey and tackle Rick Wagner. With the team playing well and relatively healthy, he didn’t need to look for many players, but signed Tavon Austin in December and brought back Jared Veldheer in January after David Bakhtiari’s knee injury.
2021
Last season, Gutekunst was a master using inexpensive free agency. The best find was linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for $ 2 million — after several attempts, he finally found a good off-ball LB, and he was a first-team All-Pro. Before the season, he also signed another swing tackle: Dennis Kelly. During the regular season, Gutekunst kept adding talent to the team, and brought in guys like Tyler Davis, Jaylon Smith, and Whitney Mercilus, with varying degrees of success. But no in-season move was better than signing cornerback Rasul Douglas from the Cardinals’ practice squad. The signing, made in October, was criticized at the time…
Read More: Gutekunst Has A Great Track Record Of Adding Talent In The Margins
