Gutekunst believes he has his defensive linemen
In his end-of-the-season press conference, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst went through the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2024 Packers’ season. For the most part, the head of Green Bay’s front office appears to be optimistic about the squad’s future, despite the young team’s postseason struggles.
The sense of urgency has ramped up
To end his presser, Gutekunst made the statement that the team’s sense of urgency needs to ramp up, as the young roster is talented, but it’s time to start competing on a championship level. The GM said that he attacks every offseason aggressively, but that he’s willing to consider adding a veteran player, depending on the talent. He mentioned that he’s not interested in a player on the “backside of his career,” but that Reggie White, signed later in his career, still had plenty of good football left in him. He also stated that “you better be right” if you trade a draft pick for a veteran.
They have the right guys on the defensive line
Between Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur, rushing with just four defensive linemen, rather than having to blitz a linebacker to generate pressure, continues to be brought up. On the topic of rushing four linemen, Gutekunst said, “There was periods of time where we didn’t do that well enough.” Later on Thursday, the team fired their defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich, who was retained from Joe Barry’s staff. When asked about the talent of his defensive linemen, Gutekunst responded, “We have a really good group in that room.” Gutekunst made it clear that he expects those players to get better, but it seems like there’s a belief that it was more of a coaching problem in 2024 than a personnel issue.
Do the Packers need a WR1?
One of the more interesting things that Gutekunst said on Thursday was when he claimed that teams with one primary wide receiver tend to struggle more in the postseason than squads who spread the ball around. Whenever he was asked about his receivers, beyond their injuries, he continued to say that they’re a group that’s still growing but that “they’re on the right track.”
Jaire Alexander
One of the biggest decisions the team needs to make this offseason is what they’ll do about cornerback Jaire Alexander, who has struggled to say on the field but makes a significant impact when he’s healthy. If Alexander does return, it will almost certainly have to be on a restructured contract. Gutekunst said that his front office and Alexander’s camp would “work through” the situation to find a result that would benefit both parties. He also claimed that there’s no disconnect between Alexander and the team.