Brian Gutekunst says Packers don’t need wholesale changes at cornerback

Today, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst took the podium for the first time since the post-Micah Parsons trade press conference. Among other things, Gutekunst stated that scouts will be flying back to Green Bay on Wednesday, and they will begin draft meetings starting tomorrow. If you missed any of Gutekunst’s press conference, we’re here to catch you up.

2025 Season

“In every season, there’s successes and there’s failures and there’s disappointments and things like that. I was proud of our team in a lot of areas this year, but finishing games is certainly something we’ve got to concentrate on as we head into 2026.”

Here is what Gutekunst said, specifically, about the loss to the Chicago Bears in the postseason:

“When you get into situations like that, you expect to win the game.”

When pressed about his statement last year about being aggressive in chasing a championship, here’s how Gutekunst responded:

“We don’t run from those expectations ever, Bill [Huber of Sports Illustrated]. We were 9-3-1, and I didn’t think we had played particularly great football during the season. I thought we had moments, but I thought we had an opportunity to round into form there in the second half of the season. Obviously, it didn’t work out that way.

I did think there were moments where we played a very, very high level, championship football-type level, but it wasn’t consistent enough.”

Special Teams

“I think over the last four or five years, we’ve put more of an emphasis on it than we ever have. Certainly, when I was working for Ted [Thompson], which was always funny because Ted was a special teams guy, but we were never going to have a guy who was strictly a special teams guy. He had to play a position and have a major kind of role or a developmental role as a position player on offense or defense.

I think when Rich [Bisaccia] got here, the way I think about him and the faith that I have in him, there were a lot of discussions, and we’ve certainly added a lot of those kind of guys who are more special teams-oriented players. And we improved. We’ve gotten a lot better. I have a lot of faith in Rich and what we’re doing there. I think that last game, obviously, we missed some kicks. Brandon [McManus] had made 32 straight going into that game, so we certainly didn’t see that coming.”

In the final answer of his press conference, Gutekunst again praised Bisaccia and specifically singled out the team’s coverage units. If you’re holding your breath that a Bisaccia is firing around the corner, it’s time exhale. It’s not happening.

I would push back on Gutekunst saying that he’s bringing in way more specialists than usual. The only players who are true specialists on the team, besides the kicking battery, have been linebacker Nick Niemann and sometimes defensive end Arron Mosby (only on the 53-man roster from Week 10 on). Beyond those two players, all of the Packers’ special teams contributors have roles on offense or defense (like Zayne Anderson being higher on the defensive depth chart than Kitan Oladapo; it costs them nothing to keep Anderson because they were always going to roster a fourth safety.)

It’s obvious at this point that the Packers primarily look at special teams as a coverage unit, not a return unit. Only one team had better numbers as a coverage team (on both punts and kickoffs) than Green Bay this year.

Extension Terms

“Yeah, I appreciate the question, but I’m not going to talk about the details of any of that. What I will say is that I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to continue to push towards what we’re trying to do here.”

So far, we have no details on the terms of Gutekunst’s or head coach Matt LaFleur’s extensions, other than they’re multi-year deals.

2026 Offseason

Gutekunst stated that he’s unsure if new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon even knows if he’s going to run a 4-3 or 3-4 base defense right now. He praised Gannon’s versatility and said that the defense “will evolve as he gets to know our team.” My main question is whether Gannon will commit to a vision before or after the draft, or if this season will be one where he feels out the roster in real time.

On the topic of free agency, Gutekunst said that the team has the flexibility to go into the market, but that the Packers have extensions in mind for this offseason, too. “If opportunities present themselves, we’re never not able to do those things,” Gutekunst stated about the team’s cap position. If you’re reading between the lines here, free agency additions will probably be more on the strategic side in 2026, rather than a certainty.

When pressed about the statuses of guard Aaron Banks, defensive end Rashan Gary and cornerback Nate Hobbs, Gutekunst repeatedly said that he expects all players under contract to be back for the 2026 season. He also mentioned that quarterback Malik Willis is “going to have a lot of opportunities” this offseason, a soft admission that Willis probably won’t be in green and gold next year.

Comments on Players

Here are some assorted comments that Gutekunst made about Packers players today:

• He said that rookie receiver Matthew Golden did an “excellent job” in 2025.
• Called running back Josh Jacobs a “warrior” and said that he has “a lot of good years left.”
• Confirmed that quarterback Jordan Love didn’t need surgery after the season.
• Said that right tackle Zach Tom’s injury isn’t expected to “impact his 2026 season.”
• This one is going to make people mad, but Gutekunst claimed that the team doesn’t need to make wholesale changes at cornerback. He said that Carrington Valentine “did a great job” when Nate Hobbs was injured and that “Keisean [Nixon] obviously had a very, very good year.”
• Admitted that Jordan Morgan “did enough to win” the left tackle job in training camp, but then injuries forced them to go a different route.
• Said that there will be a kicking competition this year, only because there’s always a competition at the position. “Not because of anything that happened last year,” as it relates to kicker Brandon McManus.
• On the topic of a Tucker Kraft extension, Gutekunst said that the two sides are talking and “that’ll be something we work through with his people and see what works best for us, works best for them,” in terms of the timing of getting an extension done before or after Kraft returns to the field from his ACL injury.