Should Brian Gutekunst be commended for the Packers’ quick turnaround.
The rise of the Green Bay Packers can be attributed to a number of factors, but one of the most significant is the acquisition of quarterback Brett Hundley from the New York Giants, who Gutekunst hand-picked to take the place of Aaron Rodgers.
Green Bay Packers at New York Jets on Black Friday
On Thanksgiving, the Packers smoked the top-ranked Detroit Lions, dominating the press box as if a playoff berth was on the line.
Packers general manager Brian gutekunst celebrated every score as if it were a playoff game.
The New York Jets, on the other hand, lost again on Black Friday. The team that Rodgers helped put together is a shell of itself without Rodgers.
Wide receiver Allen Lazard, who was the highest-paid receiver in the NFL in terms of both total and guaranteed salary, was inactive.
“It’s a question of whether or not he can get that edge back, who he is, and who we believe in him as a player,” said Jets coach RobertSaleh.
Wide receiver Randall Cobb was on the field for seven offensive snaps. The punchless Jets played 54 offensive snaps on defense instead of running backs Lavon Coleman and Ryan Tannehill. Rookie Jason Brownlee had zero career catches when he entered the game.
On special teams, offensive lineman Billy Turner had two snaps despite the fact that the Jets’ front wall was constantly stuffed by Miami’s defense.
On defense, safety Adrian Amos played seven defensive snaps.
Without Rodgers to orchestrate the offense like an orchestra conductor, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett finds himself in a quandary. “I think a lot of people have gotten rewarded for his ability to play and play at a high level, frankly,” said LaFleur in March.
Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don’t happen.
Gutekunst could re-sign Lazard and/or Cobb to give Love the veteran receiver he’s been so hyped for. He could keep Robert Tonyan and/or Marcedes Lewis to bolster the tight end corps. He could bring back Amos, a starter for the past four seasons, and go with Jarran Reed or/or Dean Lowry on the defensive line instead of going young.
Lazard (20) and Cobb (three) have 23 catches for the Jets; rookies Jayden Reed (36) and Dontayvion Wicks (20) have 56 for the Packers.
Tonyan (seven) and Lewis (two) have nine catches for the Bears; rookies Luke Musgrave (33) and Tucker Kraft (seven) have 40 for the Packers.
For the Jets, Amos has 23 tackles; Ford has 58; and Jonathan Owens, on a one-year deal with the Packers, has combined for 101 tackles and was one of the team’s best players against the Lions. Would the Packers be better served with Jarran Reed — who has 4 sacks for Seattle — or Mason Crosby? Maybe, but if you want to go young, go young!
All in all, Gutekunst has had one of the best offseasons for a team in need of one.
Fair-minded people can agree to disagree on whether Gutekunst went all-in with Rodgers to maximize the championship window. What’s beyond dispute is Gutekunst’s aggressive approach put the Packers in, if not salary-cap hell, salary-cap purgatory. This past offseason, there was no money to go to Ruth’s Chris Steak House, so Gutekunst went to Ponderosa and had a perfectly fine dinner.
For $4 million, Gutekunst re-signed Keisean Nixon to man the slot and return kicks. Ford, Owens and linebacker Eric Wilson – at a combined value of less than $4 million – have provided a lot of good snaps on defense and special teams.
The draft has been an overwhelming success. Eleven of the 13 picks are on the 53-man roster, with most of them playing key roles. Musgrave and Reed look like foundational pieces on offense. It’s not an overstatement to suggest they could become the best tight end and slot receiver in franchise history.
Wicks (fifth round), defensive tackle Karl Brooks (sixth round) and cornerback Carrington Valentine (seventh round) look like the type of big-time steals that turn good drafts into great drafts. So long as outside linebacker Lukas Van Ness (first round) and Kraft (third round) keep trending, this has the makings of a draft class that can change the fortunes of the franchise.
Of course, as the Jets have painfully learned, nothing matters without the quarterback. Trading Rodgers allowed Gutekunst to hit the financial reset button and pick up a valuable draft pick (No. 39 overall presently) while handing the offense to his hand-picked successor.
For Green Bay, the story of the season has been the growth of Jordan Love.
“He just needs to play.” Gutekunst used a version of that phrase countless times. As it turns out, those weren’t just the words of a stubborn man so married to his convictions that he was prepared to drive his career off a cliff.
As Love has played more, he has played better. He was a below-average quarterback in a Packers offense that lost four in a row; now he is one of the NFL’s best with three victories in the past four games.
If Love’s ceiling is somewhere near the top of the quarterback rankings – and we don’t know at this juncture – then the Packers are on their way to another golden era of perennial championship contention.
Was it a terrible decision in the 2020 Draft to take Love instead of an immediate impact player to give the Packers a last-ditch effort to make it to the Super Bowl?
No one will care if Love takes the Packers to the next level this decade.
The quarterback can’t do it alone, as LaFleur said again and again after Thursday’s victory, “I can’t do it on my own.”
Gutekunst will have five picks in the top 80 of the draft in 2024, following strong drafts in 2022 and 2023. Financial flexibility is on the horizon.
It’s no secret that this team has a long way to go to catch up with the NFC East champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the San Francisco 49ers. There’s a huge difference between being a playoff-caliber team and a championship-caliber team. But the speed of this team’s rise suggests the rebuild won’t be as painful or lengthy as it seemed a month ago.
