“The Packers never do anything in free agency” has been a prevailing opinion among football fans for the last two decades. Not just among fans of the sport in general, but fans of the team in particular.
Under Ted Thompson that was essentially true. But it seems as though that belief has followed current GM Brian Gutekunst, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Before we take a deeper look at that though lets just hit on the two moves that Green Bay made over the last week first.
Lets start with McDuffie, as that’s the one that seemed a bit more divisive among Packers fans when it was announced. Personally I think it’s fine. Four million dollars a year isn’t substantial with the cap consistently and as we often find out about these deals they end up being for even less than are reported at. McDuffie filled in well when need due to injuries and contributes on special teams.
McManus is the bigger news. The Packers kicker carousel has finally stopped. McManus missed only two field goals after signing with the Packers early in the season. He was perfect with extra points. Special teams have been the Packers Achilles heel for the last several seasons. While this doesn’t fix all of it, it certainly helps.
Free Agency Under Gutekunst
Going back to the start of this piece, is Green Bay the same team under Gutekunst that they were under Thompson? The answer is no, at least assuming you have a minimal understanding of how the cap works.
Since taking over, if the Packers have had money to spend, Gute has spent it.
2019 – Zadarius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos, and Billy Turner.
2022 – Devondre Campbell & Rasul Douglas
2024 – Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney
Yes the 2022 signings were players already on the team, but the point remains. When the team has not been tight against the cap, the GM has done what he can to improve the team. He’s been fairly successful at it too. Outside of Campbell all of those players had or are having good years with the team.
Now the team yet again has money to play with. On paper they presently have approximately 45 Million dollars in space. Once you account for draft picks and extensions they have about 30. With restructures they can essentially bring that number up into the 70 range. That’s a lot of math, but essentially it means that the Packers can go out and get anybody they want. There’s a lot of differing opinions on who they should target, but I thought this was pretty accurate:
Ideally, maybe not realistically, they would bring in three of these players. Mack, Adams, and Reed would be my preferred outcome. Sign those three and the Packers can go into the draft next month free to take whomever they like.
Whoever it ends up being, expect Gutekunst to be “in every conversation” and ultimately I believe at a minimum one of the names above will be in Green Bay next season.
