GM would spend on ‘unique’ players
Packers’ Gutekunst still learning on the job
Seven months on the job, Brian Gutekunst has already faced many of the big decisions that come across the desk of an NFL general manager.
He has conducted his first draft, signed his first free-agent class and made a couple of trades. This weekend he’ll pick his first 53-man roster.
But there’s a potentially huge decision looming on Khalil Mack, the Oakland Raiders’ All-Pro outside linebacker. Recent reports from Pro Football Talk and Yahoo.com said the Raiders are open to the possibility of trading Mack, though for hefty compensation in line with one of the game’s best defensive players.
While it still seems unlikely – premier players in their primes rarely change teams in the NFL – until Mack ends his holdout, the possibility of a trade remains in play and will grow if he proves willing to miss regular-season game checks in his quest for a new contract.
The Packers could benefit as much as anyone from acquiring a pass rusher of Mack’s caliber, and have the draft capital, including New Orleans’ first-round pick next year, to possibly pull off a deal. But any trade would be costly not just in compensation to acquire him, but also the money to sign Mack to a new contract.
Considering the Packers are working on a contract extension that will make Aaron Rodgers the highest-paid player in the NFL – whether it’s this year or next – then working out a new deal with Mack on top of that would tie up an enormous amount of money in two players. Among other risks, if either sustained serious injury it could be a disaster financially and on the field.
But those are risks Gutekunst appears willing to live with, at least as a general philosophy regarding elite players. He can’t talk publicly about Mack, because that would violate NFL rules on tampering with another team’s player. But when asked if the Packers can afford to have the highest-paid quarterback in the league as well as one of if not the highest-paid defensive player in the league, Gutekunst suggested they could.
“When you’re talking about unique players, there’s only so many of them out there,” he said. “At the same time, the financial challenges may be difficult, but without players you can’t win. It’s like any significant player, they’re not inexpensive, but you have to have them to win.”
With the Packers on the eve of their 100th season as a franchise, Gutekunst consented to an extended interview to discuss his first seven months as their 10th GM. Last week, in his office on the third floor of the Packers’ administrative building at Lambeau Field, he discussed a wide range of topics about his new job and his team during a 26 1⁄2-minute interview with PackersNews.com’s Pete Dougherty.
Following is a lightly edited transcript of that conversation.
Q: There’s what you think a job is, then there’s the reality of the job once you do it. What’s different about being GM than you thought from watching Ron Wolf, Mike Sherman and Ted Thompson do the job? Anything been more difficult than you expected? Anything more enjoyable than you knew?
A: I’m still kind of going through some of it, so I’m sure if you ask me next year there might be a better answer to that. The scouting part has always been the enjoyable part for me and still is very much so. There’s a certain amount of management that’s different. I think I saw it from afar, but when it’s coming to your desk it’s different. You manage your time a little differently than you did before, and maybe (differently) than I would have thought. But the scouting part is still the best part.
Q: It’s been eight years since the Packers have won the Super Bowl , and your fans are getting restless for another while you still have an elite quarterback in his prime. In your first year on the job what will you consider a successful season?
A: I don’t know if judge is the right word. Around here the goal every year is to win the Super Bowl, and that will never change. We’ve had a terrific run over the – we’ve had eight straight years in the playoffs, so last year was disappointing. But I do feel that this team – we’re at the very beginning, but I think this team has the ability to compete for championships, and I expect us to do that.
Q: What happens if you want to sign a player and Russ Ball, the executive vice president/director of football operations, says it’s a bad idea financially. Does the player get signed or not? When Wolf, Sherman and Thompson were GM, they could say “do it,” because the salary-cap analyst worked for them. But you, Ball and coach Mike McCarthy all are on the same level and report to team CEO Mark Murphy. Any regrets you took the GM job without having the same authority as Wolf and Thompson?
A: I have no regrets about taking the job at all. It was clearly spelled out to me from the beginning by Mark. Again, it wasn’t something I’d worked under before. But to answer your question, Mark has been very up front, if there’s any player I want to sign, I have all roster decisions that way. That’s never come up. I’ve never been prevented from signing a player if that’s what I wanted to do.
Rodgers' deal
Q: Taking into account that we’re talking an enormous amount of money at stake in the Aaron Rodgers negotiations, this organization also has had a long time to plan for potential scenarios in extending his contract. Why isn’t the deal done?
A: The perception of when the deal was (possibly) getting done is probably why people are anxious outside of this building. Inside the building it’s always one of those things that’s taken its normal course. Again, both sides want the same thing, so we’re all encouraged that it’s moving in the right direction and we’re able to come to a conclusion. From my perception it’s not something that’s dragged on longer than I thought it would. It’s just something that’s taken its normal course.
Q: Theoretically, you have Rodgers’ rights for the next four or five years – two years on his remaining contract, then two or even three years of the franchise tag. Is there good reason to exercise those rights for the next four or five years? Or do you want to avoid getting to the franchise tag with him? Could that rupture the relationship with the franchise’s most important member?
A: This is something we want to move forward with on good terms and have the same common goals, which I think we do. It’s about winning championships. So I don’t think it will ever come to that. I think this is something that’s moving along at the right pace and should come to a conclusion at some point. I don’t think we’re looking at those things right now.
Q: Are you better off at backup quarterback than last year?
A: I like the competition we’ve had so far. I think Brett (Hundley) has gotten significantly better. Certainly bringing in DeShone Kizer has helped the competition of that group. Then Tim (Boyle, an undrafted rookie) has done a great job do. The one thing you’ve seen in the two preseason games is having four quarterbacks that can run the offense has given us a great look at the offense as a whole, because it’s been able to function. I’d say yeah, we’re probably better off than we were last year.
Cornering the market
Q: In the offseason you put a lot of resources into cornerback with the free-agent signing of Tramon Williams, and then drafting Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson with your first two draft picks. Do you think you’ve significantly upgraded that position?
A: I do. I like that room very much. I like the mixture of the experience we have in there with Tramon and (Davon) House, and the young players have really increased the competition and the energy. The communication back there has been excellent so far. We haven’t hit any adversity, we haven’t – it’s a long way to go right now. But I like that room.
Q: You must have some concern with Kevin King’s shoulders – he came in with a shoulder injury as a rookie last year, missed seven games and had surgery that landed him on IR, then this year in camp has missed time with an injury to his other shoulder. Do you have good reason that his shoulders won’t be a chronic issue, and how much did the franchise know about them when it drafted King with the first pick of the second round last year?
A: It’s unfortunate that Kevin has had the shoulder injury, but we’ve had pretty good luck with shoulders here in the past as far as guys being able to come back and have lengthy careers afterwards. He certainly had the one issue in college coming into the NFL, that kind of got him quick last year. It was unfortunate to see him go down in training camp (this year). But it looks like he’s going to be fine. He’s coming back. Injuries are always a concern, but long term I don’t see that as a concern.
Q: Your offensive line depth looks very shaky, especially at tackle. Is that a position you can upgrade between now the first game of the season?
A: I look for the competition from within to elevate our play there. But we’re always looking not only within our own team but outside with the other 31 teams to see if we can upgrade it. It’s more difficult to upgrade with the offensive and defensive lines, but it can be done. We’re looking at everything right now. If there’s an opportunity that we think can upgrade the offensive line or defensive line, we’ll certainly do it.
Q: Unlike cornerback, you put almost no new resources into outside linebacker. Considering the injury histories of Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, not just missing games but also being diminished, because they’re not the same player with a cast or playing through injuries, do you feel like you rolled the dice there?
A: No. Some of the younger players we have there, specifically a guy like Reggie Gilbert, I think we’ve seen that coming for the last year and a half or so with the way he’s attacked and changed his body and progressed as an NFL player. Through the process you’re always looking for pass rushers, every team is. But we’ve had some bad injury luck both with Clay and Nick, but they both look really good right now and we’re excited to see what they can do this year.
Ted's role
Q: What is Thompson’s role now? I haven’t seen him at practice recently. Has he moved back to Texas, and is he going to scout from there?
A: He’s back in Texas now, he’ll be back here pretty quick for a little while. He’s going to go back and forth. He’s very much going to be a part of our evaluations, not only on the college side but the pro side for me. I spoke on this before, he’s so valuable to me with the experience of situations. Certain things will come up, and I’ll say, hey, talk to me about this situation, where you’ve had this situation and what your thought process was through it, and he’ll go through it. Not only, hey, this is what I did, but this is what I was thinking when I did it. That’s been priceless for me.
Q: You have final say over the 53man roster, but how much input will you give McCarthy? If he doesn’t want a player would you release the player, or will you sometimes just ask him to make it work?
A: I wouldn’t phrase it like that. It’s one of those things where we’re in constant communication back and forth. If we have differences he explains to me what he’s thinking, I explain to him what I’m thinking, and we usually kind of get to a common ground. But again, this is my first go-through with this, the 53, so we’ll see how it goes. I’ve had a relationship with Mike since he’s been here, even before that. I don’t anticipate any issues where it’s going to come to that.