Packers’ Brian Gutekunst: ‘Time We Started Competing for Championships’

After back-to-back playoff appearances, general manager Brian Gutekunst is expecting more from the Green Bay Packers in 2025.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is bullish on the potential of the team he’s put together. Now, it’s time – past time – to turn potential into reality.

“You always have some disappointments in the year,” Gutekunst said during his final answer of a 37-minute news conference at Lambeau Field on Thursday. “I think for me, the thing that’s been on my mind as we concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency.

“These opportunities don’t come [every year], the life of a player in the National Football League is not very long. We’ve got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, we’ve got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and I think it’s time we started competing for championships, right? I think they’re ready.”

It was a bold statement by Gutekunst – and one that ratcheted up the pressure on everyone. While he has assembled a perennial winner, the Packers haven’t gotten to a Super Bowl under his watch, and this year’s team was eliminated from the playoffs one stage earlier than last season.

Last year, the Packers stormed into the playoffs, then crushed the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round before being edged by the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs.

Walking out of Levi’s Stadium that night, Gutekunst believed the team was on the precipice of competing for a championship.

How about on Sunday night in …

“Yeah, same way now,” Gutekunst interrupted. “Yeah, I do. I think, obviously, you try not to live too much right in the moment. But whenever you lose the last game, no different than last season, you’re pretty disappointed, because there’s an opportunity in front of you that you lose.

“But, at the same time, I think this team had a lot of growth during the year, particularly individual players. I thought we added some new players into this group and a new defensive coordinator. And I thought there were some really, really good things. As we take more steps together, I’m excited about it.”

The Packers are in good shape.

Quarterback Jordan Love, running back Josh Jacobs and all the main receivers and tight ends from 2024 will be back. In fact, the only starters on the entire team who are scheduled to be a free agent this offseason are center Josh Myers, defensive tackle TJ Slaton, linebacker Isaiah McDuffie and kicker Brandon McManus.

There will be at least one change to the coaching staff and perhaps more, regardless of the future of coordinators Jeff Hafley and Adam Stenavich.  

But the foundation is set and there will be money to spend in free agency to add to a young and talented core of players, though Gutekunst provided the caveat that there aren’t players available “every year” like running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney, who helped transform the roster.

“I feel really good” about the salary-cap outlook, Gutekunst said. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap, and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. We’ve got to keep making good decisions.

“It’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things. We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good about our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are some big questions to answer.

One, will cornerback Jaire Alexander be back after another season in which he missed 10 of 17 regular-season games?

“We’ll work through that,” Gutekunst said as part of a much more expansive answer.

Those words stood in stark contrast to what he said about linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, two players for whom Gutekunst must decide on their fifth-year options by the week after the draft.

“Certainly, we would love to have him around here for longer than just a couple years. He’s that kind of guy,” Gutekunst said of Walker specifically.

Two, how will the team’s defensive line, which featured highly paid veterans Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark and former first-round picks Wyatt and Lukas Van Ness, get more productive?

“I think we didn’t grow into that consistent front like we had hoped,” he said, “but there were times that we showed it, so I know it’s capable.”

Three, how does an offense that looked great statistically – fifth in yards, eighth in points – play great consistently?

“I think there was times we were exceptionally explosive this year,” he said, “but I want to see us be able to control the game however we need to, whether that’s through the run game, the pass game.

“You always want to be explosive because, as Matt says, that leads to points. But, at the same time, situational football and being more consistent as an offense I think is something we can be better at, and I think we will.”

The Packers as the youngest team in the NFL are coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. They went from nine wins to 11, though they lacked a signature win. There is room to improve internally and the ability to improve externally.

While this season ended in disappointment, Gutekunst believes the nucleus to do great things is in place.

“I think they are wired right. I think that group is the kind of guys that can do that,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to go do it. We fell short in some areas this year, [which was] a little frustrating.

“But, at the same time, I didn’t think they blinked. So, I’m excited about the group, but the sense of urgency, not getting complacent, some of these guys have now proven themselves to be NFL football players and have attained that, but what’s out there for us as a team that we’re willing to commit to and sacrifice for – if I’m looking at one thing, that would be it.”

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