If true, then I pray that the braintrust at 1265 know what they are doing.
Brian Gutekunst came to Houston Saturday and was supposed to interview today but accepted job to remain with Packers, I'm told. He wanted the GM job at Green Bay. Never had official interview with Texans.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) January 7, 2018
michiganjoe posted:The #Packers are hiring Brian Gutekunst as their GM. Finalizing a deal now, per @TomPelissero and me.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2018
I would like to officially nickname him (Johnny) B. Gute
Was hoping Wolf was going to get it just based off the bloodline more than anything, just glad it’s not Ball and hope Wolf doesn’t bolt now
Houston was only a bargaining chip. If true, let's hope this works out. Nobody wanted Ball because he's not a scout/personnel guy, so we'll see what happens!
Not what I wanted but much better than Russ Ball.
Also, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst gets full control over Green Bay's roster, I'm told. Will report to president Mark Murphy. It's his job. Not split up.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 7, 2018
Erroneous reports out there that he's splitting the job with Ball.
I'd still like to keep Ball for contract negotiations and cap management... If Gute has full control, he can tell Ball to get a guy signed no matter the money. It seems like it's Gute's job now, so sink or swim, here we go!
Glad the decision is made, now just need to wrap up DC and any other open coaching position. I'm eager to see the GM moves now. I still think coaching is the key department, but do hope Gute will rely upon FA.
WAY more comfortable with this vs Ball. The Packers needed a personnel/scout GM who knows how to evaluate players, not a bean counter.
Ball was also rumored to be fairly conservative with FA like Thompson. The Packers didn't need that either. FA has changed and TT didn't keep up.
Apparently Gute is from the Ron Wolf tree. I hope he approaches FA more like Wolf than TT.
An interesting tidbit on Gute is that he played and coached at UW-LaCrosse, which I didn't know. I like this much, much better than Russ Ball.
I'm happy.
Weird how stuff works...Ron Wolf hired Gutekunst and now he beats out Ron's son for the coveted GM job. Curious to see what happens with the young Wolf now.
Just so happy it isn't Ball. That would have been TT redux. Gutekunst's track record for finding talent is solid. So far this has been a dream off-season in my eyes.
I'm keeping my season tickets.
Fire Gute.
He hasn’t done one thing in free agency since he was hired as GM.
Glad they passed on Ball. I hope Wolf sticks around. He’ll be groomed well for the position later.
When the Packers re-signed Adams and Linsley, they smartly used some of their 2017 salary cap to do it. IIRC 5 mil of Adams sign on will count against the 2017 cap and like 1-2 mil for Linsley.
So that means Gute should have close to 45 million in cap money to play with in Free Agency plus 10-12 draft choices, including a top 14 pick.
Not a bad way to start your new career as a GM.
NumberThree posted:Glad they passed on Ball. I hope Wolf sticks around. He’ll be groomed well for the position later.
I hope not. If everything goes well, Wolf will have to find his GM job somewhere else
how old is Gute? maybe we can keep wolf in the wings again for when he gets a little more age behind him? that would be excellent...not sure if it would happen...but good for both sides I think...
Are well all committed to calling this guy Bombshell Brian Gutekunst?
BBG?
BB Gute Kunt could be his rap name
You can't make this stuff up but he had a career ending shoulder injury at UW LAX. He will fit right in.
Maybe he knows enough not to take a chance on an injured guy.
In the world of "no **** news"
According to a source, Murphy and Gutekunst want Eliot Wolf to stay and will try to convince him not to leave for another job. They will have their hands full convincing him after that decision.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) January 7, 2018
Glad they made the decision quickly. But I don't understand the "he's a much better choice than Ball because he's a scout" vibe".
If the Packers truly are talent light, isn't that state at least partly Gutekunst's doing? Or is it assumed TT regularly ignored the good advice of his scouts in favor of his own mistaken view?
Personally, I think Caper's defense was the source of most of the team's ills.
Gute will hire Dom to replace MM as head coach. Dom will name MM DC.
Agree on Capers' D. I think he cost us more SB appearances. Now time to line up a good DC, not in-house!
Fandame posted:Agree on Capers' D. I think he cost us more SB appearances. Now time to line up a good DC, not in-house!
I hope we can keep Perry and Witt. I don’t know if I want either of them for DC.
grignon posted:If the Packers truly are talent light, isn't that state at least partly Gutekunst's doing? Or is it assumed TT regularly ignored the good advice of his scouts in favor of his own mistaken view?
Even though I have no basis for this, I am going with #2…
grignon posted:Glad they made the decision quickly. But I don't understand the "he's a much better choice than Ball because he's a scout" vibe".
26 of now 32 teams in the NFL have GM's with extensive scout/personnel experience. Of the very few who don't, it's owners like Jerry Jones who meddle in the Cowboys decisions.
Theres a good reason why you want someone with Gute's background.
As bad as things looked with Rodgers out, I think there's enough talent still on the roster that this team can get back to fully stocked by 2019 beginning with a strong draft this offseason, and with well chosen replacements for the assistants who departed.
I'm not saying they have zero chance to win the Super Bowl in the 2018 season, but I think their chances will be better with a couple years to restock and let some young guys develop. Gutekunst isn't taking over an expansion team here, just one that needs a year or 2 of talent infusion to go along with one of the top QBs in NFL history.
With Rodgers. Philbin. New D coordinator. Possibly McAdoo.
Green Bay is instantly in contention for a title in 2018.
El-Ka-Bong posted:Are well all committed to calling this guy Bombshell Brian Gutekunst?
BBG?
BB Gute Kunt could be his rap name
Gunt has a nice ring to it...
Not sure if this was posted or mentioned elsewhere. But Jahri Evans said he’s seriously contemplating retirement.
If that’s the case then Gute needs to go OL early and often in the draft. Good bet Spriggs is on the shelf all of 2018. Who knows how much Bulaga has left.
I could be wrong here, but thought I heard on a sports talk show here in Milwaukee within the last week or 2 that Spriggs injury wasn't as bad as they first thought. Let's hope that info I heard was correct. That said, even if he is back, his play has been so uneven I don't know that you can count on him.
Spriggs was diagnosed with a dislocated knee cap and is not expected to miss any time in training camp. He avoided a major injury
The Packers are high on Justin McCray who played well and believe that's is there next RG
So that leaves RT. Murphy, Spriggs or ____ until Bulaga is back (expected to be PUP'd)