Acme Packing Company
Gutekunst said that he was told that he is free to trade the pick despite the 2025 NFL Draft being held in Green Bay.
A common line of speculation leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft was that the Green Bay Packers would refuse to trade out of the first round. With the draft being held in Green Bay, the Packers’ first-round pick will surely be an exciting moment, and a school of thought held that team president and CEO Mark Murphy would insist on the team having at least one selection on the draft’s opening night.
On Tuesday, general manager Brian Gutekunst put a clear and final end to that theory. Speaking with Packers reporters ahead of his formal press conference at the NFL Combine, Gutekunst made it clear that Murphy has given him permission to trade the Packers’ first-round selection if he feels the trade is worthwhile.
Gutekunst’s phrasing suggests that he is free to trade for a player if he sees fit, or to trade down out of the first round to accumulate more selections as well. Gutekunst has never gone without a first-round pick in his tenure as Packers GM, however, as the last time the Packers traded back out of round one was in Ted Thompson’s final draft as GM in 2017.
Meanwhile, several edge rushers appear to be available in a trade this spring, and that position is one where the Packers need to get more production in 2025 than they did last season. Players like Maxx Crosby of the Raiders or Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals might draw a first-round pick as part of a trade package, and this declaration makes clear that the Packers would not be immediately out of the running.
Stay tuned for more news from Gutekunst’s Combine presser today and updates from the entire event all week long.
