Packers GM Brian Gutekunst has the magic touch
The "complicated fella," Miami Dolphins and others do not. Somehow, the Packers are 6-2. Sunday cast a magnifying glass over NFL GMs... for better and worse. Also inside: Quitting is in vogue.
Hysteria reaches its apex the week after a soul-crushing postseason defeat. Shock shifts to anger. Questions must be answered. The Green Bay Packers have suffered their share of agonizing defeats and, to an extent, the reaction of Ted Thompson was downright admirable: He never blinked.
After Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers Tasered the Packers defense in the 2012 playoffs, the GM’s constituents (owners, technically) were understandably incensed. That night, Green Bay made the read option resemble a play from a faraway future in which there’s flying cars and vacations on Mars. Accountability was demanded. Changes. NOW. Our comment sections at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel were on fire.
Down at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. — just a few days after the 45-31 loss — I caught up with the late-great Packers boss and his stone-cold demeanor was Vintage Ted. He reiterated faith in the coaching staff and cited the team’s resolve through injuries. He promised no big changes were coming, and promptly kept that promise. From 2005 to 2017, the man who was born to scout football players built a perennial contender with such resolute calm and restraint. In hindsight, however, those fans raising Cain weren’t off-base. Football was evolving. The Draft & Develop philosophy was just then becoming outdated. Those Packers needed a jolt of urgency.
Signing more vets in the offseason and firing under-performing players during the season would’ve led to one more Super Bowl. Maybe two.
Brian Gutekunst, the team’s GM since 2017, learned the trade from Thompson. He, too, drafted a quarterback when he did not need one — took the bullets — and it paid off. Gutekunst is the first to praise his old boss at the lectern. As he should. Thompson will live forever in Packers lore. But Gutekunst’s actions suggest he has also learned from his mentor’s one mistake. GMs in charge of contending teams must be bold. Week 8 of this 2024 NFL season drew that line in the sand.
The proactive execs were rewarded.
The reactive execs (and “complicated fella” de facto GMs) are now scrambling to save their seasons.
Start with those Packers.