Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst hasn’t said it directly, but he’s feeling nervous in his press box. The way the Packers once again ended the playoffs on a losing note no longer sits well with him or the rest of the front office, and the person ultimately responsible for that is head coach Matt LaFleur.
Gutekunst has assembled a talented team. There is no doubt about it.
The Packers were a hot Super Bowl pick heading into the 2024 season, as they looked young and hungry after Jordan Love’s first year as a starter. The first impressive thing about Green Bay’s 2023 season was that the post-Aaron Rodgers plan worked. Love probably won’t be the Packers’ third straight Hall of Famer — with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers before him — but he’s certainly a competent NFL quarterback.
He had a rough year in 2024, but still threw for 3,389 yards and 25 touchdowns (11 interceptions). It’s not great, but it’s not terrible either. If the stench of his three-interception performance against the Philadelphia Eagles wasn’t on him right now, it would be worth pointing out that he went seven straight games without an interception to end the regular season.
Gutekunst also went out and made some big investments this past offseason. He paid Love, but he also hit free agency to bring in star running back Josh Jacobs and star safety Xavier McKinney. He paid well for both of these players and they brought a ton of talent to Green Bay’s roster.
They were a good team in 2024, going 11-6 in the regular season and a playoff berth as the NFC’s seventh seed, but they weren’t a great team. They finished 0-6 against teams that finished with a record of at least four games above .500 (including the playoff loss to the Eagles), and they went 1-5 against NFC North opponents.
“Good teams beat good teams. You can’t consider yourself part of these elite teams if you haven’t beaten them. Do you see what I mean? said rookie safety Javon Bullard after the season ended, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “I feel like we’re a good team in this league, and our record shows we’re a good team in this league. But to be an elite team, you have to beat an elite team, and we don’t do that.
Brian Gutekunst wants the Packers to urgently pursue another Super Bowl
Speaking to the media during his end-of-season press conference, Gutekunst also expressed some frustration, albeit on a large scale.
Green Bay is known as “Title Town” and the NFL champion receives the Lombardi Trophy, named after legendary Packers head coach Vince Lombardi. The Packers have been good but not great in the LaFleur era, but every playoff series that ends in a loss takes them further away from 2010-11 when they won Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s still “make or break” in Green Bay, but Gutekunst suggested the organization may have I lost some of that urgency like lately.
“We always have disappointments during the year. I think, for me, what came to mind as we wrap up this season is that we need to continue to intensify our sense of urgency,” he said, per Eric Edholm from NFL.com. “Those opportunities don’t come around (very often). The life of a National Football League player is not very long. We have a group of good guys in this locker room, a group of talented guys in this locker room, and yeah, I think it’s time we start competing for championships, right?
He didn’t say it directly, but ultimately, Green Bay’s general manager is telling LaFleur it’s time to move up a gear.
LaFleur, for all his faults, is a good head coach. He leaves his sixth season as Green Bay’s head coach with an overall record of 67-33, good for a .670 winning percentage. It’s good, but it’s not great. To win a Super Bowl, you have to be great.
The sense of urgency comes from the top down. Gutekunst has now done his part, but it’s now up to LaFleur to convey that to the rest of the locker room and make sure his players know the expectations are sky-high heading into 2025.
The Packers have money to spend this offseason and they have several fundamental young stars to build around, but playoff runs that don’t end with the Super Bowl won’t be tolerated much longer if Gutekunst is to be believed.
