G.M. Brian Gutekunst Wants to Be "Really Aggressive" in Free Agency
-- The Green Bay Packers and new general manager Brian Gutekunst have every right to be cautious with this upcoming pool of free agents, but that won't stop the new front office contingent from meeting with their desired targets.
Whether that's more so than in the past remains to be seen, but the process is evidently different than before.
"There's a limit to what you can do, but we'd like to be really aggressive and see what we can be in every conversation," Gutekunst said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
"Whether that leaves us signing a bunch or not, we'll see."
While the Packers have generally relied on their draft and develop philosophy under former G.M. Ted Thompson, Gutekunst offers a fresh perspective on things -- and he intends on using every avenue of roster-building available to ensure the Packers remain competitive from top to bottom.
That comes with its own risks, especially in the impending free agent market that doesn't necessarily house any top-tier names, but rather players who could be best-suited filling certain roles. Most of that will ride on how new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine views each individual fit in the alleged plethora of schemes he intends on implementing.
"Like I said, there are limitations there, but we'd like to be as aggressive as we can to try and improve our football team. At the same time, it's a smaller market -- it's a riskier market. As my mentor and predecessor would say, you have to be very cautious as you enter that. But, I think we'd like to look at every option that we can."
Nearly two months ago when Gutekunst initially replaced Thompson -- and Thompson was bumped to the team's senior advisor to football operations -- and was introduced to the media, he made it clear that the Packers will "probably be a little bit more aggressive in certain areas," and wouldn't "leave any stone unturned in every avenue of player acquisition."
So, to some, Gutekunst's approach doesn't come as a surprise. He's nearly two months into his promotion and, while operations around him have gradually slowed heading into March, his philosophy of building a championship caliber team remains solidified.
"I think right now we're just trying to improve our team overall. We have a really good team with some really good players. There's bee some change on the coaching side and the personnel side, but, I don't think we're very far off."
The Packers are currently sitting on $16.4 million in cap space, somewhat below the usual roughly estimated $20 million average. And while an extension for quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the team's top priorities this offseason -- despite his contract running through the 2019 season -- they should have the funds to splurge on a couple of helpful acquisitions.
"You want to be as well-rounded of a team as you can be, but certainly, we'd like to have a dominant defense. When I first got here was when the defenses with Reggie White and Sean Jones and those guys, so certainly we'd like to be there.
"We have some really good players on defense right now. We have a whole new defensive staff coming in and maybe some scheme changes. There's a whole lot of energy on that side of the ball right now and we're pretty excited about it."
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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].
Comments (11)
stockholder
February 28, 2018 at 02:20 pm
I'M SURPRISED GUTE HASN'T TAKEN TO TWITTER YET. Seeing is believing. Must be management is tired of the draft options. After Bennett this really was a mouth full. Music to the ears!
Packer_Fan
February 28, 2018 at 02:25 pm
There are too many holes to sit back and not get free agents. Can't expect Rodgers to always pull a game out in the playoffs. I see a CB, speedy WR, veteran OL as priorities. Then add what is left over to get depth.
Royalty Free GM
February 28, 2018 at 02:34 pm
The Superbowl recipe:
add
CB Trumaine Johnson (draft pass rusher with 2nd AND 3rd)
WR Paul Richardson (draft Ridley with 1st, cut Cobb)
TE Darren Fells (WR speed will clear the middle)
Not aggressive enough?
And get a FA teacher to teach McCarthy some situational football.
Mojo
February 28, 2018 at 03:09 pm
Well for Gute to be super aggressive he's going to have to cut bait with at least one or two of the current higher paid players on the roster.
You have Rodgers extension coming up and maybe magically it can be cap neutral, but I doubt it.
To go outside the club, you have to concede a number of your own FA's are too pricey and are going to walk. Goodbye Burnett, yet another need to fill.
Based on D. Adams contract, the premium FA's are going to want in the $milteens( a word I just made up - means multiple years in the 11 to 19 million range) on average. With roughly $17 mil in cap room, I just don't see how they're going to do it unless they stick with a bunch of mid- to lower level FA.s.
And if they do jettison a number of high priced players, are you necessarily improving or just paying the same for different numbers on the uniform.
Gute may want to be aggressive, but the better point is can he be aggressive?
Bearmeat
March 01, 2018 at 07:19 am
I was going to type something very similar. No need to now. Well said, Mojo.
However, I'd like to add that I do think GB can improve by cutting 1 of the 2 WRs, Bulaga and finding a way to lower CM3s cap hit. I do think that there are several mid-priced (between 5-10mil aav) that would do better for the Packers than the names we all know and love at WR, RT, "pass rush" etc...
John Ramble Kirk
March 02, 2018 at 08:00 pm
The more I listen to Brian, the more I think he's Ted with personality. Sounds like he's not going to be his own man, rather, follow protocols set by his predecessors. I thought we were getting freshness, and this feels like something repackaged in a shinier skin.
Mike McCarthy likes to smack his lips over and over when he speaks to the media, and Brian likes to say...Yeah, yeah, when people are posing questions to him. Sometimes, he doesn't even wait until they're finished, yeah, yeah, ...
The Marcus Peters question was fun. Felt like there was something there. There were 3 teams in on Peters and SF and LA were named. Nobody knows who the 3rd team was. His answer and body language makes me believe the 3rd team was us. It would make good sense that it was given our situation at the position. Perhaps, did what Ted used to do and fell short of landing a significant upgrade to the roster for peanuts.
BTW, my favorite moment from his presser was his answer to whether Ted was there or was coming? Uncomfortable. (He's not...and he doesn't know)
EDIT: Ted never showed in Indy...wasn't at the Senior Bowl, either. Schneider cried when talking about Ted's absence in Indy. Why would that be? Ted isn't well. It amazes me how many want to pretend that's not true and the org wasn't trying to hide him. The poor guy. Why is he even said to be around and a big part of things when it's pretty clear there's something really, really wrong. I couldn't stand him as a GM but I feel for him as a human being.
Samson
February 28, 2018 at 09:53 pm
You may be spot on but Gute is still learning his job. --- This off-season may not be representative of his abilities. Truth be told, GB may not improve much at all this off-season. --- Gute's hands are a bit tied. He did NOT inherit a "great" situation in GB. --- Even with a healthy AR, GB is not a SB team unless weaknesses are fixed. -- One off-season won't be enough.
Samson
February 28, 2018 at 10:00 pm
"Really Aggressive" may not be possible. --- Plus, at this point, no one really knows who's calling the shots in GB. --- This hierarchy is still a question mark with few answers (at least for the fans).
4thand1
March 01, 2018 at 04:49 am
You want to bring in FA's who want to win, last year Bennett was not that FA. Do you cut a player that the team likes and bring in a cancer to the locker room? Can you get players to restructure contracts to stay? Does a GM have to be an economist first or take a chance, win it all and mortgage the future? They make the deals, get players, cut players and put together a roster. Then it falls on Mike M to get them to play together and make it work. This year the HC will be under more pressure than anyone else in IMO.
John Ramble Kirk
March 01, 2018 at 11:18 am
As I ponder these changes made during the offseason and learning that the coaching staff is now going to be involved in FA decisions, I've concluded that we are going with an... "It takes a village." approach to this.
While I'm a huge believer in everyone being a valuable resource within a work structure, there has to be clear and hard lines that we don't seem to have. This structure further emasculates an already weak GM in Brian. It's a hedge from Murphy that he doesn't fully trust Brian to run things needing to involve himself in things he hasn't touched the entire time he's been with us.
Ultimately, we're going to be as good as our weakest link in the chain and when you're starting with Murphy as the head of the snake, we're going to be perceived as harmless around the league.
Man, I'd love to see McGinn do a comprehensive piece on how some strong FO types view what we're trying to do at 1265. They've got to be shaking their heads.
Donster
March 02, 2018 at 05:50 am
The only way to be really aggressive in free agency beginning March 12th is to get Cobb, Nelson, CM3 and Bulaga to re-negotiate their contracts, or /trade cut two or three of them. Bulaga probably will be gone no matter what.
Now even if the Pack can gain valuable cap space with the above mentioned moves, and sign Rodgers to a new extension, I do not expect Gute to be able to bring in two top tier FA's. We all have to be realistic that to many teams have tons of cap space and can dangle overpriced offers to the best FA's. Cleveland for instance with $110 million.
The other thing other than being outbid for players, is what players are going to take less money to come to GB, or want to come to the leagues smallest city? I believe the GB is at a disadvantage when it comes to that. Most players talk about just wanting to win a Super Bowl, but money talks.
So the Pack are going to have to go after middle to low-range FA's to fill holes and add depth. And, I hate to say it, build through the draft. Gute has to nail this years and next years draft. So I believe that the Pack is looking at two to three years to get back to the Super Bowl. TT let the team degrade for to long. So one year to fix the team isn't going to happen, even with Rodgers healthy all season.