Packers hire Brian Gutekunst as GM

[pbmax]

yup. the personnel guy over the numbers guy. that's good. hope he's got balls. guess we'll see soon enough. if he does that'll put the onus on MM to put up or shut up.

We are 2/3 in agreement on remaining issues! I hope he knocks some heads together and gets the drama ended.

[Maxie the Taxi]

BG...Dilly. Dilly.

[mission]

He looks like the kind of guy who would have some balls. Not surprising they went this direction over Wolf, given Gute seemed to be getting more interviews around the league over the last couple years. Now I'm reading on Twitter that "NFL sources" felt he was a future front office star two years ago.

Really don't hate this hire even though I wanted them to wait and get Paton or DeCosta, but those were hardly guarantees. Ball would have been a disaster even from a PR standpoint and fan confidence would probably be pretty low. I'm excited about just someone new who won't be afraid to pick up the phone himself to talk with agents and try to work some magic. I have a feeling TT was just a complete hermit when it came to this kind of thing.

[pbmax]

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sport...ob/1011265001/

I just want to note that this statement:

Gutekunst has never expressed what his style of management would be, but having worked with Ron Wolf and current general managers John Schneider, John Dorsey and Reggie McKenzie, all of whom have been aggressive in player acquisition, it’s likely he’s more open to free agency than Thompson.

is the most logically incoherent statement I have read in a week full of them. Its bafflingly stupid.

[Joemailman]

Now convince Ball to stay and you've got the best situation you could have hoped for.

[Vincenzo]

Huh.

One more conspiracy minded theory before I buy in. Gutekunst was being represented (or identified might be a better term) by the search firm that was helping the Texans search for a GM. He was identified this weekend as a finalist for interviews next week for Houston. Murphy has used that search firm before and one of that firms partners is advising Murphy about the GM search.

Is it a coincidence that Gutekunst got the nod a little faster than expected?

Brian Gutekunst is the least objectionable choice of the three know candidates. And this is fine. Its also a reason not to be that excited. I hope he is just as ruthless as Ted and that includes stuffing McCarthy in a box and dropping him in the Fox River if he keeps whining about everyone else not doing their job.

I am not very excited.

Yes.
So much for the “extensive search” Murphy said to the media last week.
I think he hit the panic button as soon as he heard the Texans were interested.

[pbmax]

He looks like the kind of guy who would have some balls. Not surprising they went this direction over Wolf, given Gute seemed to be getting more interviews around the league over the last couple years. Now I'm reading on Twitter that "NFL sources" felt he was a future front office star two years ago.

Really don't hate this hire even though I wanted them to wait and get Paton or DeCosta, but those were hardly guarantees. Ball would have been a disaster even from a PR standpoint and fan confidence would probably be pretty low. I'm excited about just someone new who won't be afraid to pick up the phone himself to talk with agents and try to work some magic. I have a feeling TT was just a complete hermit when it came to this kind of thing.

Would love to have seen De Costa come in and bring a little Ravens D drafting luck/tips to the Packers constant mining of O talent.

[pbmax]

Yes.
So much for the “extensive search” Murphy said to the media last week.
I think he hit the panic button as soon as he heard the Texans were interested.

Media moaning is often self serving and basically meaningless, but Nagler and Oates made good points on Twitter in the last 24 hours.

The publicly owned team would not comment on its GM search or interview process. Have they even confirmed that Getsy left, Bennett has been stripped of his job and Van Pelt has left? The Bears had comments on each interview after it happened.

That kind of secrecy I can forgive in football operations, where you fear giving the opposition good intel or draft nuggets. But its dumb when hiring the top of the franchise.

[rollo]

I think this is a great hire. I wonder, did the Packers fulfill the Rooney Rule during their GM candidate search?

[pbmax]

I also really want to know how much of Russ Ball's front runner status was an invention of the coverage.

[pbmax]

OK, last of the bad attitude:

Predict when BG will have to fire the guy who might have paved the way (M3) for his ascension?

If Spoon was right in his assessment of this as a win for M3, then its the worst reason to hire a GM. I don't care if the coach survives in his job, I want the fundamentals of the franchise maintained and McCarthy doesn't represent a key cog there.

[Joemailman]

I just want to note that this statement:

The hiring of Gutekunst is a huge victory for coach Mike McCarthy, who badly wanted someone who was experienced in player personnel and would be willing to partake in all phases of player acquisition.

Gutekunst has never expressed what his style of management would be, but having worked with Ron Wolf and current general managers John Schneider, John Dorsey and Reggie McKenzie, all of whom have been aggressive in player acquisition, it’s likely he’s more open to free agency than Thompson.

is the most logically incoherent statement I have read in a week full of them. Its bafflingly stupid.

I agree it's incoherent in that it ignores the possibility that he might have been influenced by working with Thompson. However, saying he might be more involved in free agency than Thompson isn't exactly going out on a limb. It will probably be true to some extent.

[Joemailman]

I think this is a great hire. I wonder, did the Packers fulfill the Rooney Rule during their GM candidate search?

I don't know. Does requesting an interview with Reggie McKenzie suffice?

[pbmax]

I agree it's incoherent in that it ignores the possibility that he might have been influenced by working with Thompson. However, saying he might be more involved in free agency than Thompson isn't exactly going out on a limb. It will probably be true to some extent.

Exactly. So the statement could have read: "Given Thompsons' league leading resistance to veteran free agency, its likely Gutekunst will be more open to it even if his actually player acquisition philosophy is unknown at this time."

The first sentence about training (the same people who trained Ted) is an effort to make a case that doesn't exist.

[pbmax]

I don't know. Does requesting an interview with Reggie McKenzie suffice?

I bet they interviewed Whaley.

Unless the list of interviews is longer than we know, Murphy was just doing tokenism and not interested in looking beyond the Packers way of doing things.