NFL Trade Rumors
Speaking at his end-of-season press conference, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst was asked whether this past season was a disappointment. Green Bay finished 11-5 and made the playoffs, but was ousted in the first round.
Beyond that, the Packers didn’t beat another team with 11 or more wins all season. It was a good season but it wasn’t a season in which the Packers were contenders for a Super Bowl, and Gutekunst acknowledged that’s the standard in Green Bay.
He added he feels a sense of urgency to ensure the Packers can reach that standard soon.
“You always have some disappointments in the year,” Gutekunst said via NFL Media’s Eric Edholm. “I think, for me, the thing that’s been on my mind as we’ve concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency. These opportunities don’t come (very often). The life of a player in the National Football League is not very long. We’ve got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and yeah, I think it’s time that we start competing for championships, right?
“I think they’re ready. Like I said, I think they are wired right. I think that group is the kind of guys that can do that. At the end of the day, you’ve got to go do it. … I’m excited about the group, but the sense of urgency, not getting complacent… Some of these guys have now proven themselves to be NFL football players and have attained that, but what’s out there for us as a team that we’re willing to commit to and sacrifice for?”
Gutekunst, 51, got his start in scouting with the Chiefs in 1998 before joining the Packers in the same role in 1999. He rose through the ranks before eventually being named GM to succeed Ted Thompson in 2018.
In seven years under Gutekunst, the Packers are 73-42-1 (.629 winning percentage) with five playoff appearances and a 3-5 record.
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