Packers GM Brian Gutekunst gearing
up for different kind of draft with Green Bay serving as host
[April 22, 2025]
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers hold the 23rd
overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, but general manager Brian
Gutekunst has more to think about than just the player he wants to
take.
Including, with the city of Green Bay hosting the event, how he’s
going to get to his Lambeau Field office each day.
Although he didn’t have any issues on Monday.
“I rode my bike,” Gutekunst joked as he kicked off his annual
pre-draft press conference.
Gutekunst downplayed any logistical challenges he and the rest of
the Packers staff might be facing amid the carnival-like atmosphere
in the area surrounding the iconic stadium, with the league
expecting 250,000 fans to attend the three-day draft.
He also insisted that whomever the Packers pick in the first round
won’t necessarily have to contribute immediately to a team that has
made the playoffs the past two years with limited contributions from
defensive end Lukas Van Ness and offensive lineman Jordan Morgan.
The Packers took Van Ness with the 13th overall pick in 2023 and
acquired Morgan with the 25th overall selection last year.
“It’s great when they do (contribute), but that’s not always the
case,” said Gutekunst, who enters the draft with eight total
selections — one in each of the first six rounds, plus two
seventh-round choices. “The transition to the National Football
League is tough. It’s not always easy. … Most of the time, a guy’s
impact in his rookie year comes down to the opportunities that he
had, more than anything.”
With needs at wide receiver, on the defensive line and at
cornerback, there could be opportunities at those spots sooner
rather than later. That said, Gutekunst also expressed confidence in
the team he’s already assembled.
“I feel really good about our roster right now. That doesn’t happen
every year (heading into the draft),” Gutekunst said. “But if we had
to go play next week, I feel really good about our roster. I feel
like we could win and go compete — really, across the board.”
Gutekunst does have a few roster situations to deal with, however.
For starters, there’s two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander’s
unresolved situation. Gutekunst acknowledged last month that he is
actively seeking to trade Alexander.
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“We invested a lot in Jaire and want to make sure —
if he’s not going to be on our football team helping us win games —
that we get something back for that investment,” Gutekunst said at
the NFL owners meetings.
Alexander, who has two years remaining on his existing contract, has
played in just seven regular-season games each of the last two
years. During that stretch, he has missed 19 total regular-season
games because of injury and one for a 2023 suspension because of
conduct detrimental to the team.
A knee injury forced him to miss 10 of the Packers’ final 11 games
last season, including their 22-10 playoff loss to the eventual
Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Asked if he would simply keep Alexander this season if he can’t
trade him before or during the draft, Gutekunst replied, “We’ll work
through that. I don’t really have any updates on Jaire. He’s
obviously on our roster right now. We’ll see how the draft goes and
then see where we are at that point.”
Meanwhile, Gutekunst wouldn’t say whether he would extend the
fifth-year options to the team’s two 2022 first-round draft picks —
linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt — before
the league’s May 1 deadline.
But, he emphasized that he wants both on the team long-term.
“I think for both those guys, whatever mechanism we use, we’d like
to keep those guys around for ’26 and beyond,” Gutekunst said. “So
whether that’s through doing the fifth-year option on these guys or
extending them one way or the other, we’re planning to do that. We’d
like to do that.”
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