GREEN BAY – That was one heck of a Friday for the Green Bay Packers.
It started with signing Jayden Reed to a contract extension, a receiver whom Brian Gutekunst tabbed "a winning football player," and in the same breath the general manager didn't shy away from talking about Christian Watson as his next long-term target.
Reed's deal got done in the hours leading up to Day 2 of the NFL Draft, further evidence that roster management truly is a 24/7/365 endeavor.
As for the draft itself, Gutekunst went from making a "tough decision" to an apparently self-explanatory one.
At pick No. 52 overall in the second round, the Packers GM had his eye on a handful of players and was forced to choose one. He went with South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse, a 20-year-old prospect who played two years at North Carolina State before hopping over to the SEC and proving himself.
Gutekunst didn't think the 5-11¾, 189-pound Cisse would be there 20 picks into the second round, so he committed to an intriguing growth projection.
"He's very young. We think his best football is ahead of him," Gutekunst said. "He's got so much more left in the tank not only as a player but physically as well. He can get bigger and stronger."
Then, a little more than 20 picks later, an already big, strong guy who was a consideration for Cisse's pick – Missouri defensive tackle Chris McClellan – was still available.
The longer the third round went on, the lonelier McClellan's name got atop Gutekunst's draft board. So he made the easier call of the night to trade up seven spots to get him, surrendering a fifth-round pick to Tampa Bay in the process.
McClellan (6-3¾, 313) was attractive for his ability to line up in different spots across the defensive front as a run stopper, and provide interior pass rush as well.
"There's a lot of guys that don't do that," Gutekunst said. "He can."
Two days before the draft began, Gutekunst verbalized publicly his plan to add at cornerback and his desire for an interior D-lineman. There was no guarantee both would be addressed with his first two picks, but nobody in the draft room was complaining.
Personnel executive Milt Hendrickson confessed he'll "sleep a lot better" with the addition of these two players, while Gutekunst heads into Day 3 with five more selections – one each in the fourth through six rounds, plus two in the seventh.
That could change, but Gutekunst said if he winds up with just a seven-player draft class, which would be his smallest in his nine drafts as GM, he'd be fine with it.
"I do like our team," he said. "I like our depth. I like our roster. I do think that we've got a tough team to make."
He feels he's already got a better one after Friday.
"I'm really excited about these two guys," Gutekunst said. "I think they can help our football team. I think they have really bright futures ahead of them. They were really good players in college, good teammates. I think they're going to fit here very, very well.
"We've got more work to do tomorrow. I'm excited about it. But this was a good first day for us."
