After Green Bay’s season ended in Philadelphia with a dud of an offensive performance, general manager Brian Gutekunst sang a different tune than he normally does.
Speaking with reporters back in January, Gutekunst said it was time for the franchise to ramp up its sense of urgency. When Gutekunst’s presser ended in January, many expected to see an aggressive offseason approach to fill holes on the roster, with the team making a splash of one kind or another in free agency.
The 2024 season wasn’t a failure by any stretch of the imagination. Green Bay made the playoffs, the defense looked noticeably better under Jeff Hafley than it did Joe Barry, and the two big names inked last offseason, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, turned out to be home-run signings.
Still, the Packers were on a completely different tier than the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, and they didn’t have any success beating the top teams in the NFC throughout the year.
Fast forward to April and the “urgency” may have been somewhat of a stretch, based on the team’s approach to free agency. There are clear needs in the eyes of most at wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback. Green Bay hasn’t brought in edge-rushing help yet, and at wide receiver they added gadget player Mecole Hardman, who hardly inspires enough confidence to believe that problem is solved.
At cornerback, Gutekunst did spend big, bringing in Nate Hobbs from Las Vegas. With Jaire Alexander‘s future in Green Bay on rocky ground, even with Hobbs onboard, there’s still plenty of room to add another impact name in the cornerback department.
Gutekunst also spent big on Aaron Banks, who will slot in at left guard; as a result, Elgton Jenkins will move to center.
From one angle, as Gutekunst noted at the NFL owners meetings on Monday, the Packers have spent the 10th-most of any team in free agency. A large chunk of that comes from the signings of Banks and Hobbs, but Gutekunst’s numbers are correct.
However, it’s the way they spent that money that may lead some to believe the alleged sense of urgency has failed to materialize.
Gutekunst had to walk a tightrope this offseason. He and the rest of the brain trust have to know that the current wide receiver group, especially with Christian Watson out for a lot of 2025, requires reinforcements. The Hardman signing never moved the needle.
On the other hand, Gutekunst knows this but doesn’t want to overpay for a trade of DK Metcalf just to then hand out of a massive contract extension. The balancing act is knowing they need some help while recognizing the veteran options out there like Davante Adams and Cooper Kupp wouldn’t be the best route for Green Bay to take.
Signing one Adams or Kupp or trading for Metcalf would’ve paid off the urgency message Gutekunst delivered earlier. Instead, Green Bay is exactly where they started at edge rusher and, for all intents and purposes, at wide receiver as well.
Gutekunst shouldn’t be blamed for not overpaying at wide receiver. He should be applauded for not falling into that trap. But everything loops back to the that word “urgency.”.
When asked about it on Monday, Gutekunst clarified what he meant.
I think the urgency comment is really more for our team, our organization to understand what the expectations are. At the same time, for us, I think we were very urgent in free agency.
By all means, if it was meant to be a message for the organization to ramp up their efforts internally, that’s great. The second part of Gutekunst’s quote is a tougher sell. In fact, you could make a case the front office showed more urgency last offseason with the additions of Jacobs and McKinney.
Gutekunst was adamant that the urgency statement wasn’t made as a free-agency comment alone.
Obviously, we went after a couple top targets, we were able to acquire them, and I think that really is going to help our football team. The urgency comment is across the board. I think it’s for our players, it’s for our organization in how we’re going to approach things.
If you took Gutekunst’s message of urgency as an approach to free agency, you’re likely feeling underwhelmed. Even with the spending numbers Gutekunst referenced, does anyone believe the Packers are in better position to take down the likes of the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions now than they were in January?
Probably not.
If you took Gutekunst’s message as a mindset for the organization to carry throughout the offseason and into 2025, as it sounds like it was intended, well, those results are yet to be determined.