What did you expect from the 2023 version of the Green Bay Packers? They probably exceeded it, unless you were unrealistically optimistic. That happened in large part because of head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love, but another leader never receives recognition and he deserves a ton of it.

General manager Brian Gutekunst made a sequence of strong moves and showed important leadership skills that allowed the Packers to turn the page from Aaron Rodgers. The team established a new culture around young players and got better results on the field right away, making the playoffs in Love's first year as a starter.

You might not give Gutekunst enough credit because the Aaron Rodgers situation created a bad perception around him. But Gutekunst was right, wasn't he? And he deserves consideration for the executive of the year award. Let's talk about the reasons.

Aaron Rodgers saga

The most used word in the Packers offseason was… leverage. Who had it, the Packers or the New York Jets? Maybe neither, or both. But the fact is that Brian Gutekunst held firm and extracted a really good value out of the deal.

Even if Green Bay won't have an extra first-rounder because of Rodgers' injury, they still ended up with a first-round swap and two high second-rounders — so far, that capital allowed the Packers to select Lukas Van Ness and Luke Musgrave.

Moreover, Green Bay didn't need to absorb more money out of Rodgers' deal — he ended up taking a paycut for the Jets.

Gutekunst also led a lot of PR drama during that period, and the Packers handled everything with patience and effectiveness. That's part of being a general manager too.

Long-term plan

The most important attribute for a general manager is to correctly analyze where his team is and act accordingly. Sometimes, teams try to extend windows and the results are as bad as you can imagine.

The New Orleans Saints are a good (bad) example. After Drew Brees' retirement, they had an opportunity to step back, eat their vegetables salary cap-wise, and accumulate draft picks for the future. But they tried to keep in a false sense of contention. Now, the team is average, with an average and older quarterback, the cap situation is a mess, and they lack young pieces because of aggressive trade ups that didn't pan out.

Meanwhile, the Packers experienced a similar situation over the last half decade. They tried some sort of all in during the Aaron Rodgers final seasons, spending a lot of money. But now that the veteran quarterback is gone, the Packers decided to adjust their situation. They are 27th in cash spending, 32nd on offense, and used the draft capital acquired in the Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers trades to build a new version of the roster.

Jordan Love results

You can argue that this is not a 2023 thing, but nobody knew what the Jordan Love decision would result in. He was a 2020 first-round pick, but had just one start. Now, there's finally an answer, and Jordan Love looks on track to be at least an above-average starting quarterback — and maybe better.

Additionally, Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball found a creative way to have financial flexibility regarding Love. Instead of picking up or declining his fifth-year option, the Packers and Love agreed to a one-year extension, giving the quarterback more money in 2023, and the team more cap flexibility and a better situation to find a team-friendly long-term deal.

Draft picks

The 2023 class has given the team immediate results. Wide receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are arguably the two best and most reliable players of the room, tight end Luke Musgrave is a high-end pass-catching option, and Gutekunst finally broke the third-round curse with another tight end, Tucker Kraft. Karl Brooks in the sixth round and Carrington Valentine in the seventh are also great value picks.

Development plan

It's hard to be patient in the NFL, but having that allows a team to develop their own players. Sometimes, teams opt to sign cheap veterans for their high floor, but that actually hurts the development of young players and hinders the team's ceiling.

So instead of adding low-cost old players, the Packers have given playing time and attention to players like Rasheed Walker, Romeo Doubs, TJ Slaton, Kingsley Enagbare. They are not stars and probably will never be, but the ability to create a strong roster without spending extra capital is imperative in today's NFL. And Gutekunst's modus operandi is a big part of that.

Jordan Love does something no other NFC quarterback did in 2023

He has been named the NFC Offensive Player of week 18