Packers navigate unusual draft situation and make subtle process tweaks that could shape how they approach key picks
Green Bay enters the draft without a first round pick for the first time since 1986, but Brian Gutekunst wants to keep his process in place to avoid mistakes.
You have to go back four decades to find a year where the Green Bay Packers went into the draft without a first-round pick. There were years, like 2008 and 2017, where the Packers traded out of it, but getting into the process without a Day 1 pick is new for the franchise.
Back in 1986, the Packers traded their first for the rights of safety Mossy Cade — he had been the sixth overall selection in 1984, but refused to agree to a deal with the San Diego Chargers, signing with the USFL’s Memphis Showboats instead.
Now, the situation is completely different. The Packers traded two first-round picks last August to acquire an established star in edge defender Micah Parsons. While it’s a different experience, general manager Brian Gutekunst wanted to keep a similar approach to building his board.
“Our process stays the same,” the Packers GM said during his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday. “I would say there’s probably a little bit different allocation of time to some things. Maybe how we chopped up our 30 visits, what Pro Days I went to was a little different than it would have been in the past, but it hasn’t been a whole lot different.”
A different Thursday
The Packers made their normal scouting process because it’s not only about the first round, and it’s not only about this draft. First of all, a player may fall for any reason. Second, the scouting reports help the front office make decisions on free agents or potential trades down the road. Depending on who’s on the board, a trade up isn’t out of the equation either.
“We’re going to do our normal process,” Gutekunst explained. “The phones won’t be as busy, that’s for sure. But we’re going to keep our ears open. We put a lot of work into this with the players that are going to be picked in that round, and I’m sure it’ll be a little bit more fun just because it’s going to be less chaotic. We’re going to try to stay with our process that we’ve always had.”
Additionally, Gutekunst talked about the potential butterfly effect of the draft. What happens in the first round has a big effect on how the next few rounds shake out.
“We’ll discuss the players and we’ll be talking through things, whether that’s with the individual scouts, with Matt [LaFleur], with our medical people and stuff like that,” Gutekunst added. “It’s always interesting how it falls, how it affects every team, the trades that are involved. So we’ll follow that process. What happens on Thursday will affect Friday and Saturday, so we’ll be in tune with it. Like I said, it’ll probably be a little different, but I do think it’s important. We put a lot of work into these guys, so you look at it and say, how do we see this shaking out, what would we do here if it was us, things like that.”
Patience is key
The Packers enter the draft without a first, but with eight total picks. If necessary, that’s enough ammunition to trade up. But the general manager doesn’t want to overspend. Trading up or down will always be on the table, depending on the players on the board and the available offers.
“If we end up waiting 51 picks before we pick, that’ll be a long time, and hopefully I have the patience and the discipline to do that,” Gutey said. “But not unlike any other draft, we’ll have some players we’ll probably talk about moving up to go get. I’m sure there’ll be some scenarios to move back as well.”
It will undoubtedly be a different Thursday night for the front office, just like it’ll be for fans. But it gets easier when the pick was utilized to get a player of Micah Parsons’ caliber. Meanwhile, Friday and Saturday can still reserve some good pieces to add for Green Bay.