Tag: Gutekunst

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) during the second quarter in a 2024 NFC divisional round game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Packers focus on draft; contract for QB Jordan Love on radar

Posted on | by Field Level Media

More than a part of the long-term plan for the Packers, quarterback Jordan Love is the long-term plan in Green Bay.

Following the path of his scouting predecessors, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst plans to place contract negotiations with Love on the frontburner as soon as the 24-7 focus on the draft passes this weekend.

Gutekunst holds a league-high 11 draft picks and wants to add to his playoff roster behind Love, who is first eligible for a contract extension on May 3, one year after his most recent pact with the Packers.

“We believe in that process very, very much,” Gutekunst said. “Whether it goes back to Ron (Wolf) and Ted (Thompson), all the people who have left here and had success other places. … We believe in that. The draft is the lifeblood of this organization.”

Sean Clifford currently slots at Love’s backup, but the 2023 fifth-round pick can expect some company on the depth chart.

“Getting back to drafting multiple quarterbacks is something that I’ve wanted to do,” Gutekunst said.

Love, a first-round pick in 2020, overcame a shaky debut as the starter for the Packers to deliver an emphatic response to questions about his status as the heir to Aaron Rodgers. He finished second in the NFL with 32 touchdown passes in the regular season.

Love’s record-setting showing at Dallas in the Packers’ wild-card win and another strong showing on the road at San Francisco the following week, despite two interceptions, convinced Gutekunst and the scouting staff he was deserving of the mantle. Love played the 2023 season on a modified contract that replaced the fifth-year team option.

Last month at the owner’s meetings, Gutekunst confirmed preliminary negotiations were underway with Love, 25, targeting a long-term agreement.

“We want to make sure we do it the right way,” he said. “We’ve started, but it’s not something that’s going to go quickly, I don’t think. It’ll take some time.”

–Field Level Media

Oct 29, 2023; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) against the Minnesota Vikings during their football game at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Wm. Glasheen-USA TODAY Sports

Packers GM: Jury still out on Jordan Love as QB1

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Green Bay Packers aren’t quite sure whether Jordan Love is the franchise quarterback of the future but they hope he can prove that he is over the season’s remaining 10 games.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday said, “I hope not,” about whether that determination bleeds into the 2024 season.

“I think we’ve got 10 games left. These are going to be very important 10 games,” Gutekunst said at his midseason news conference.

The Packers have dropped four straight games and sit at 2-5 with the Los Angeles Rams visiting this week.

Love, in his first season as the starter after the offseason exodus of future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, has thrown for 1,492 yards in seven games, with 11 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He’s completing 57.7 percent of his passes, worst in the league.
“I think he’s done a lot of really good things,” Gutekunst said of Love. “Really like the way he’s responded to the adversity, how he’s led the team. Again, we’ve got to be better as a unit and I expect that to happen over the next 10 games.

“And I think that we’re going through some things that we knew we would go through. We haven’t had the results that we want, but I do like the way guys are responding to things.”

Green Bay’s first-half point difference this season is minus-59, second worst in the league. But they’re plus-42 in the second half, second best in the league. Further, the Packers are 25th in the NFL in total yards per game and 21st in passing yards.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur was asked earlier this week about evaluating Love, saying it’s hard to do given the other 10 players around him.

“I think in order to do that, I think everybody’s got to play better around him, quite frankly,” LaFleur said Monday.

“Are there some things he can do better? Absolutely. I think he’d be the first to tell you. Are there some things we can do as a staff to help our guys? Absolutely. And then, when there are plays there to be made, we’ve got to make the plays.”

The Packers signed Love to a contract extension worth $22.5 million that runs through the 2024 season.

–Field Level Media

Green Bay Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst talks to the media about the 2022 NFL Draft on April 25, 2022, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Gpg Gutekunst 042522 Sk23

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst: ‘All options on table’ with Aaron Rodgers

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Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is ready and waiting, but hasn’t heard from Aaron Rodgers since they met two days after the regular season ended in January.

Rodgers’ future is the wildcard looming over the offseason for the Packers and other teams hopeful that he could decide to play next season outside of Green Bay.

Gutekunst said he hopes to have a decision from Rodgers on his 2023 plans before the start of free agency on March 15.

“He’s a great player, but until we have those conversations, I think all options are on the table,” Gutekunst said. “We need to have those conversations. We want what’s best for the Green Bay Packers, what’s best for him so we’ll get to that coming up.”

Conversations with other teams have taken place, Gutekunst said, but none specific to trading the Packers’ 39-year-old franchise quarterback.

“I have conversations with teams all the time. I’ve talked to a lot of different teams about a lot of different things, but actually talking about trades — not yet,” Gutekunst said.

Rodgers’ backup, Jordan Love, is being apprised of any developments and decisions by Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur. Gutekunst said Love is ready to be a starting quarterback and keenly interested in the direction the team and Rodgers plan to go this spring.

“That communication has been pretty constant,” he said.

LaFleur is not meeting with media this week but instead stayed in Green Bay with his coaching staff while entrusting the scouting department to navigate all things at the NFL Scouting Combine.

The Packers are working on restructured contracts with left tackle David Bakhtiari and nose tackle Kenny Clark, Gutekunst said.

–Field Level Media

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst (left) laughs with new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur at his introductory press conference in the Lambeau Field media auditorium. Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst (left) laughs with new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur at his introductory press conference in the Lambeau Field media auditorium.. LAFLUER

Reports: Packers extend coach Matt LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Green Bay Packers awarded contract extensions to head coach Matt LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball, multiple reports said Monday.

The terms were not revealed, but it was reported that the extensions were agreed to months ago.

Speaking with reporters Monday, Packers president Mark Murphy said, “I’ll just say I’m confident not only Matt and Brian but Russ Ball will continue to be Packers employees for years to come.”

The Packers have gone 39-10 with three NFC North titles in three years under LaFleur and are 45-19-1 since Gutekunst took over for Ted Thompson as GM in 2018.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Packers wideout Davante Adams were apparently disillusioned with Gutekunst during 2020 and 2021. The pair at one point posted the same image of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on their Instagram stories.

At the height of Rodgers’ unhappiness with the Packers organization, the posts were read as a reference to “The Last Dance” docuseries, in which Bulls general manager Jerry Krause was painted as a villain. Rodgers reportedly referred to Gutekunst as “Jerry Krause” in texts with teammates.

Gutekunst and the Packers still managed to convince Rodgers to return to Green Bay after he’d privately claimed he’d never play for the organization again. He signed a contract extension in March that will pay him $150.8 million over the next three years.

Adams, meanwhile, did not receive the deal he was looking for and was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders.

–Field Level Media

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates with wide receiver Davante Adams (17) after scoring a touchdown in the second quarter during their football game Saturday, December 25, 2021, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The touchdown Adams ahead of Jordy Nelsons for touchdown receptions from Rodgers.Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Apc Packvsbrowns 1225211374djp

Packers GM: No deadlines, working closely with Aaron Rodgers

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Brian Gutekunst has a goal and his preferred outcome begins with a commitment from 2021 NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers to play for the Packers next season.

But the process in Green Bay might not play out on the general manager’s ideal schedule. Because Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur want to understand Rodgers’ plans before making other moves, Gutekunst said Wednesday at a scheduled press conference there are “no deadlines” where Rodgers is involved.

This means that as of Wednesday, the Packers are in much the same position they were after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs: waiting for the Rodgers domino to fall.

“This has been more of a conversation about where we’re headed together. This is a process we’re going through, and a process he’s going through,” Gutekunst said.

“We’ve had really good conversations with Aaron.”

The layered offseason for the Packers is fraught with variables and salary-cap concerns. Rodgers could still retire or ask for a trade, a determination he said Tuesday he hasn’t yet made. He could also return to the team, or indicate he’ll come back only if the Packers address his contract.

All of the “hypotheticals” have Gutekunst working on a matrix of if-then scenarios that would dramatically alter the direction of the Packers — at least in the short term.

Gutekunst said the Packers are also hopeful unrestricted free agent Davante Adams is with the organization going forward. When asked about using the franchise tag to retain Adams at more than $18 million for 2022, Gutekunst said he’d prefer to reach a long-term deal that works for both sides.

Getting that done might be even more improbable than keeping Rodgers content given Adams position that he wants to be the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals had the highest wideout salary of $27.25 million in 2021.

The Packers are well over the projected salary cap of $208 million for 2022, even after restructuring the contract of nose tackle Kenny Clark on Wednesday.

Gutekunst professed he is “very confident” the Packers are in position to “compete for championships” with Rodgers and Adams. He said retaining the high-priced playmakers would not prevent the Packers from being competitive, or kick-start a fire sale.

That includes one valuable backup on the roster — Rodgers understudy Jordan Love, a first-rounder in 2020.

“I would be very doutbful to take any of those calls,” Gutekunst said of any trade offers for Love.

Rodgers sent Green Bay and the NFL-watching world into a tizzy with an Instagram post in which he heaped gratitude on Adams and wide receiver Randall Cobb and spoke partially in past tense. But Rodgers said Tuesday in an interview with Pat McAfee that he had no final answers on his future yet.

Gutekunst continues to nurture the relationship with Rodgers, agitated by the Love draft pick and exacerbated by what Rodgers said in 2021 was disrespect from the GM.

In the most recent example of giving his quarterback a voice, he said the franchise welcomed Rodgers’ input on hiring quarterbacks coach Tom Clements for another tour of duty in Green Bay.

Asked to measure the worst possible outcome of losing Rodgers and Adams, Gutekunst said the Packers would still compete.

“We’re going to field a competitive team regardless. We’re the Green Bay Packers,” Gutekunst said. “We may have to do things different ways if those hypotheticals come into play.”

–Field Level Media

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) against Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis (24) during the NFC Championship game on Sunday, January 24, 2021, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Mjs Apc Packers Vs Bucs Nfc Champ 0653 012421 Wag

Davante Adams: ‘No chance’ of Packers extension before season

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Star wide receiver Davante Adams said he won’t be signing an extension with the Green Bay Packers before the 2021 season starts on Sunday.

“No. No chance. No,” Adams told reporters Wednesday.

Adams said in July that he wanted to become the highest-paid receiver in the NFL, which seems to be the primary sticking point between the player and the Packers’ front office. Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins is earning $27.25 million in average annual value; Adams’ current deal nets him $14.5 million a year, 19th in the NFL at his position, according to Sportac.com.

The 2021 season is the final year on Adams’ contract. Adams is set to have a cap hit of $16,787,500.

Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst said last month that the team did not have a deadline for getting an extension done with Adams, granting that negotiations could leak into the season.

Adams has hinted at dissatisfaction with Gutekunst and the Green Bay front office. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, before returning to the Packers at the start of training camp, reportedly mocked Gutekunst in a group text with teammates and called him Jerry Krause, a reference to the late Chicago Bulls general manager who was seen as a villain in the Michael Jordan docuseries, “The Last Dance.”

In July, Adams and Rodgers posted identical Instagram story photos of Jordan and Scottie Pippen, perhaps a reference at the time to their unhappiness with their team’s handling of contract issues.

However, Adams told reporters Wednesday that he intends to prevent his unsettled contract situation from becoming a distraction once the season kicks off.

“I feel like I had one of the best camps of my career,” Adams said. “Was able to really lock in, come back and get reacquainted with my brothers. Me and (Rodgers) picked up where we left off. Like I said, it’s just the way that I have found success coming up from all stages of life.

“Just focusing on that moment. It’s not like it took any work to do that. It’s just blocking out the rest of the stuff that I don’t really need at the time, which is some of that other stuff that we’ve talked about (his contract).”

The Packers play the New Orleans Saints in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday to open the regular season.

–Field Level Media