Cory’s Corner: Brian Gutekunst Deserves His Due

I think it’s time to give Brian Gutekunst his due. 

The Packers general manager has done plenty to be celebrated. Yet, for some reason, he remains a pariah. 

It’s fine to not dislike what the Packers did a few years ago. However, the evidence is now there. In his first season as general manager in Green Bay, he fired former head coach Mike McCarthy — a Super Bowl winning coach after 13 years on the job as the Packers coach. 

That was a huge decision because McCarthy was the first Packers coach to be fired midseason since Gene Ronzani was let go in 1953. That’s a monumental thing. I remember when people were saying that McCarthy earned the courtesy of waiting. 

But Gutekunst saw something else. He saw the team eroding. He saw the team cratering from the inside. And he made a move that many criticized. 

He then took his time and hired the young Matt LaFleur. He didn’t just hire LaFleur, he handed him the keys to one of the most popular franchises in the league. In his first season as a head coach in the NFL, the Packers went 13-3. Then, they went 13-3 and then 13-4. He’s 56-27 as an NFL head coach and he’s 3-4 in the postseason. 

Then there’s the quarterback. There was not many people that wanted the Packers to move on from Aaron Rodgers. He won the MVP in 2020 and he had the vision to draft Jordan Love by trading up to get him. Then Rodgers won the MVP again in 2021. By now, the Love faithful were dwindling, saying things like, “How do you trade up to get a quarterback when a perfectly good quarterback is wearing green and gold?

I didn’t know that Jordan Love was going to turn out to be one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league after his first year as a starter, but I’m pretty sure that Gutekunst did. He knew that Love was going to thrive and he also knew that his attitude would be perfect for the tough situation that he would be walking into. He needed someone that is mentally strong and also a great leader. 

He of course accompanied that with some unbelievable free agent signings. Bringing in safety Xavier McKinney might have been the move that puts this defense over the top. It needed someone that was an elite athlete that can tackle, run and hit. McKinney is all of those things and he’s going to give that defense an edge it sorely needed.

Then he answered Aaron Jones going to Minnesota by adding Josh Jacobs. His drafts have been very good — my favorite pick aside from Love might be Zach Tom. The fourth round pick is not only the most versatile on the offensive line, but he might also be the very best. 

Gutekunst is great for the Packers because he is willing to go for it. That’s exactly what you want from an NFL general manager. You don’t know how long the window of opportunity will be open before it crashes shut. You have to be willing to take some chances and take some criticism if things are going to go well. 

Gutekunst has rolled the dice and I think things have gone pretty well.