Brian Gutekunst hints at willingness to bring in a player type the Packers have overlooked in recent seasons
Green Bay may want more experience on the roster.
Go back and see the types of free agents the Green Bay Packers have signed. Even though Brian Gutekunst is clearly more active than his predecessor Ted Thompson to add external pieces, the general manager tends to get younger players entering the prime of their careers — Micah Parsons, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs, Aaron Banks, and Nate Hobbs were all young players entering their second contracts in the NFL.
But while that’s true, it doesn’t mean the Packers can’t adjust the internal process if there’s a piece out there who could help the team.
On Wednesday, during his end-of-season press conference, Gutekunst said there isn’t any type of rule on the Packer Way prohibiting the signings of older players.
“I wouldn’t say that’s a line of demarcation at all,” Gutekunst explained. “I think, obviously, we went through a period of time where we were kind of growing with these young guys, and I would expect these guys to kind of turn into those guys. Sometimes, particularly where we’ve been the past few years, if you have a lot of those guys you’re talking about, these other guys don’t get to play and progress. And they have now.”
Defensive targets
There are two particularly intriguing free agent possibilities for the Packers. Edge defender Khalil Mack is a player whom the Packers tried to acquire eight years ago, and defensive tackle Calais Campbell played under new Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon on the Arizona Cardinals.
While Gutekunst didn’t talk specifically about those players, he admitted that adding veterans is a possibility.
“We’ve been young in number for a couple of years, but not in experience,” Gutekunst mentioned. “To me, anytime you have an opportunity to add a player that can help you, regardless of their age, very few years are we adding guys for one year. We’re usually looking for a more long-term solution. And certainly if you’re up there in age, that may not be the case. But we’ve certainly done that in the past, and we’ll do it again.”
A general manager will never close the door on a potential valuable addition to the roster. Although the Packers would still prefer to get long-term solutions, short-term help isn’t off the table for 2026.
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