GREEN BAY – General Manager Brian Gutekunst addressed the media for nearly a half hour Tuesday, two days before the start of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Here are five things we learned:
- The Packers will be watching the first round very closely.
Gutekunst may not have a first-round pick this year (or next) due to the Micah Parsons trade, but he and his staff will be following the action Thursday night very closely because who gets picked, who makes trades, etc., will have a major impact on the final six rounds – when the Packers have eight picks going in.
"The phones won't be as busy, that's for sure, but we're going to kind of keep our ears open," Gutekunst said of the approach Thursday night.
"It's always interesting how it falls, how it affects every team that picks, the trades that are involved. So, we'll follow that process. What happens on Thursday will affect Friday and Saturday, so we'll be in tune with it. We put a lot of work into these guys that you kind of look at this, OK, hey, how do we see this shaking out? What would we do here, if it was us? Things like that."
The homework they did on first-rounders they won't be picking still matters, too.
With any number of veterans Gutekunst has acquired from other teams during his tenure, he's mentioned liking those players when they were coming out in the draft. So the advance work on top talent stays in the files because opportunities could arise down the road, such as signing Alabama stars and high draft picks Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney as free agents two years ago.
"Everything's, you know, the lifeblood. Everything starts with these guys coming out of college," he said. "This is where our players come from. We're very intense about that process and understanding, because that does carry over quite a bit. So certainly guys change as they get into our league, and they get better or worse. But a lot of the information we gather right now is stuff we'll be using three, four or five years from now on these players."
- He's not ruling out a trade up in the second round, or any round.
While a trade back to acquire more picks is probably more likely, Gutekunst's motto is always "if the right player is there …" The Packers may not have a ton of draft capital this year to move up, but he did mention all the compensatory picks – up to four – the team is expecting next year from its lost free agents, plus the three additional picks (one this year, two next) he added by trading Rashan Gary and Dontayvion Wicks.
So it's within the realm of possibility to trade a pick next year in order to move up this year. But again, if the right player is there.
"The compensatory formula, we won't know exactly what we have for next year, but we feel pretty good about the amount of picks we're going to have," Gutekunst said, referencing 11 or more.
"Whether it's in this year's draft, next year's, the ability to move around to acquire the type of players we want to acquire, you have to have those picks to do that."
- It's all but a given the Packers will draft at least one cornerback, or more.
Asked about the cornerback position, Gutekunst said, "We are going to add numbers there."
The defense's current top three are Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and free agent Benjamin St-Juste, a trio Gutekunst feels good about. But behind them, the depth has little to no game experience, and Gutekunst hasn't drafted a corner higher than the seventh round in any of the past four drafts.
"Some of our young guys, I'm interested to see with our new coaching staff how they adapt to what we're going to ask them to do," he said. "But we do need to add some numbers there."
- Gutekunst likes his offensive line depth better than many draft analysts.
Offensive line is near the top of draft needs for the Packers when outside analysts look at the current depth on the roster. But Gutekunst mentioned liking what he saw from backup center Jacob Monk in last January's regular-season finale in Minnesota, and he also brought up Travis Glover's pending return from a lost 2025 season due to shoulder and lat muscle injuries.
The Packers also brought back Darian Kinnard and Donovan Jennings as reserve linemen.
That's not to say Gutekunst won't draft an offensive lineman. He almost always does, if not multiple. But his perception of the acuteness of the need seems to differ from the outside narrative. As an aside, he also confirmed starting right tackle Zach Tom did have knee surgery at the end of last season, and he'll be "ready to roll as we get going."
"I feel really good about our whole group and the competition that's in that room," he said. "We're always going to try to add to the offensive line. There's only so many big guys in the world that can play at a high level, but I feel good about it."
- Drafting players who fit the culture and locker room is the first measure of success.
A draft can't be fully evaluated until a few years down the road, after players have settled into their NFL journey. But what will feel like success to Gutekunst, come Saturday night when the seven rounds are complete and undrafted free agency spins forward, is if the players being brought into 1265 Lombardi Ave. are the right kind of guys.
"As the board falls and you're able to acquire players that you really feel fit culturally here and are going to add to the culture, that's when you feel successful in the moment," he said.
"I usually get to a point last week where I have that feeling of, OK, I feel really good about our board. There's a bunch of uncontrollables that are going to happen over the next three, four days. But I know we're prepared to move in whatever direction we need to move in and we're excited about it."
