On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers gave up and hired director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst to replace Ted Thompson at the general manager position.
And I only say gave up because they could have made a play for Seattle Seahwaks general manager John Schneider if they really wanted to. That said, I felt Gutekunst was the strongest internal candidate. And also, thank god the job didn’t go to director of player finance Russ Ball.
It went to a guy Ron Wolf hired. It went to a guy who has done nothing in the league other than scout players. While that may seem logical, the Packers have done nothing logically over the past few years. This move was a departure from their typical dumbassery.
Russ Ball? Give me a break!
Coach Mike McCarthy didn’t want him and neither did quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers should absolutely try to keep Ball. He’s good at what he does — negotiating contracts. Keep him there, give him a raise and a fancy new title, if you have to.
Meanwhile, the reaction to Gutekunst has been mostly positive. And we’re feeling good, too.
Free agents? You want free agents?
We all do!
Brian Gutekunst just might go get them! Remember, Ron Wolf, not Ted Thompson. While that head-scratching fairy still has a role with the Packers, this is Gutekunst’s job to own and to fuck up.
After Schneider, he was our preferred candidate. Just don’t fuck it up, hey Bri?
Get the Green Bay Packers some ballers to go with QB1!
BRIAN Gutekunst is your new @packers GM,HE WILL DO A GREAT JOB!, a real Personel guy, the Roster will still be one of the youngest but very athletic
— leroy butler (@leap36) January 7, 2018
#Packers make great hire in promoting Brian Gutekunst to GM. Has a scouting pedigree, learned from Ron Wolf and should work very well with coach Mike McCarthy. Win, win, win.
— Tom Oates (@TomOatesWSJ) January 7, 2018
New Packers GM Brian Gutekunst is as respected as it gets in NFL scouting circles. Also blew the Niners away in his GM interview there last year.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 7, 2018
Brian Gutekunst got the Bob Harlan seal of approval as #Packers next GM. “Outstanding hire,” Harlan said. “Brian is part of the Ron Wolf tree, and everybody Ron brought in was so outstanding. Brian has risen the ranks, and certainly has earned his promotion.”
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) January 7, 2018
Expectation from people who know him is new #Packers GM Brian Gutekunst will be more aggressive toward free agency than predecessor Ted Thompson. “I’d be surprised if he isn’t,” one source said. That’s both necessary, and pretty easy to do.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) January 7, 2018
Really like the hire of Packers new GM Gutekunst.
He's a scout, learned from Wolf and McCarthy respects him. +Philbin as OC… good weekend.— Bill Michaels (@Bill_Michaels) January 7, 2018
Packers fans who wanted a true scout at the head of the organization should thank the Texans. Gutekunst's interview in Houston likely pushed Green Bay to offer him the top job or risk losing him.
— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) January 7, 2018
Packers are hiring Brian Gutekunst as GM, ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed. Gutekunst is the most well-rounded scout in the personnel department and knocked it out of the park in his interview. https://t.co/3uN8RcsWqm
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) January 7, 2018
Not speaking for GB fans. I can only say I give a A to the Packers for GM choice. I feel better about Murphy,too.
— Steve HomerTrue (@espnhomer) January 7, 2018
Also, there’s this.
Did you know that new #Packers GM Brian Gutekunst also starred in Lord of the Rings, Rudy, and most recently Stranger Things? @LilySZhao #Doppelganger pic.twitter.com/Rvqhx1bCYz
— Ryan Rodig (@ryanrodig) January 7, 2018
Green Bay fans feel like they just got paroled. It was a sentence to have Ted in charge for so long. Hope it’s not too late for at least one more title while Rodgers is here.
Good post Ferris…isn’t it amazing how long that was allowed to continue? That alone is just cause for Murphy’s removal.
Free at last
It’s officially been announced Ted Thompson passed away several years ago. Then the question begs to be asked. If not the cadaver, who’s responsible for all these stupid ass fucking moves that has turned this roster into a steaming pile of shit? Was it Russ Ball, was it Alonzo Highsmith, was it Eliot, Brian? Or was it Mike Holmgren?
Thinking outside the box maybe TT was thrown under the bus for the failure of Hundley. Maybe big Mike wanted to unload him preseason because they knew he was not NFL quality . Maybe TT wanted to high of a draft pick and big Mike was willing to take what ever to unload him. Interesting train of thought.
No one had to throw TT under the bus, he had that covered years go.
If you read some of the Hundley articles and comments the past few years, some of these experts had Hundley pegged as deserving of high round draft pick. Did you not watch the pre-season of 2015? The same way with how our running back problem was solved with Montgomery and his 5.9 yard average. similar to how our cornerback problems were solved with our 2 new young stars from the 2015 draft.
Time and a complete body of work tells us the true story of whether or not we found a player, not 1 season, or a few games. Or a 3rd string preseason MVP QB.
I hope we can get back to serious improvement on this team and not get a chubby just because someone ran for over 100 yards against the bears.
I’m not qualified or clairvoyant enough to judge this hire. I reserve judgement until i see a body of work. Would have still liked to see new blood from outside come in, but better him i guess than the architect of the bloated contracts in recent years.
If half of the articles written are true about the Packers keeping Elliot Wolf on ice until Ted retires, i’d be pretty pissed off if i was him.
If not Elliot, i also would have preferred John Dorsey and his proven body of work. The Packers had over a 5 month window to bring him back, as recently as December. But accomplishing that might have called for strong leadership. A trait this team fails terribly at….top to bottom.
Could the Packers have thrust out the “Russ Ball as GM” as a rumor so that we might feel some relief in the signing of Brian Gutekunst? Time will tell . . . I for one was hopeful of someone NOT in Green Bay just because I believe that “new blood” was really needed here. However after this signing I will reserve any more negativity until after BG takes the reins and shows us what he has in his skill set. This should be exciting and hopefully . . . very fruitful! One of the few remaining “branches” from the Wolf tree. Go Pack Go!
The Russ Ball rumor was probably clock-bait. After all, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. One telling clue will be if Ball stays. Who would want to stick around if the alleged comments by McCarthy and Rodgers are true?
I don’t think McCarthy sucks as an NFL coach. But i think he was lacking when it came to replacing some personnel, and made too many mistakes (while learning on the job). Also, his arrogance hasn’t served him well. But, at the end of the day, we could do much worse than him at head coach. But he should be a head coach, not an O C.
Now Murphy, is another story. He had one, just ONE responsibility concerning football operations, that was overseeing Thompson’s job performance. Which started to falter starting with the 2011 draft. Well, Murphy (under his own words) even failed to do that. Then finally, in 2018 Murphy relieved TT of his duties. Maybe his own decision, but probably not. Two people were/are a cancer to this team, one is gone (reassigned) and the other is still here. He’s currently checking the sledding hill for snow depth.
As i’ve said in the past, Murphy should have been let go awhile back for dereliction of duty.
Like the new handle, but at some point, it’s going to create a dilemma for you. When everyone’s finally replaced, there’ll be no one left for you to acronym as your username and constantly piss and moan about.
Thanks SAVAGE57! That will not be a problem. It will be a good thing. I will then gladly use a more appropriate name and ease into that. However, until this Packers brain trust wakes up and starts to actually move forward, there have to be assholes like me keeping the casual fan aware of just how poorly their beloved team is shitting the bed . . . Who wants to piss and moan everyday? Not Me! When you see bad shit you call them on it. I am anything but the curmudgeonly Packer fan I may represent on here for the past half decade . . . :)
It would be nice, if the head coach, DC, and GM, could talk, communicate together, get on the same page as far what players would fit with this team, for the betterment of the team.
I wasn’t there, but it seemed Thompson never had that communication with the teams top decision makers. Correct me if i’m wrong, but wouldn’t Ted be turning left, when the team was turning right? Just egotistical bullshit…that i hope is over.
And if this new hire move think’s i’ve softened up on Murphy at all, think again. I think he is weak as the President and the Boss of the former GM. No accountability, (under Murphy’s own words) concerning Ted Thompson. According to Murphy speak, Thompson could do no wrong.
Any success this team has, is not the work of Mark Murphy, he’s just along for the ride. Some may give him props for hiring Gutekunst in the future, personally i think it was the safe hire. Especially when most other candidates outside the team, declined interest to interview for the job.
You have to wonder if Murphy is going to take the same hands off approach he took with Thompson as GM. My guess would be since Murphy was originally hired after everything else had been established, since he is now on the hook for hiring Gutekunst, he might be more attentive. And maybe a little more attentive than he needs to be. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
Now that BG is GM, is he really gonna be able to be his own GM? For one they kept around Thompson to whisper in his ear, which who says anyone wants to listen to somebody else tell them how to do their job? Then he’s pretty much stuck with McCarthy as a coach because the good ole boys gave him a contract extension, and since BG is an in house hire I’m sure he’s gonna go along with all that. The safe hire indeed. No wonder no other GM’s would want to be put into that situation. Your predecessor is still hanging around telling you what to do, and you’re stuck with the coach we tell you to have.
Exactly…and i don’t think Thompson being named the Senior Adviser to the new GM, was any help in attracting outside candidates. That was a weak (good ol boys move) that was NOT in the best interest of the team.
But it was done by Murphy, so it explains itself.
Well we know the answer is “NO” he will not get to be his own GM due to McCarthy now answering to Murphy. Essentially they have neutered the GM position, so Wolf shouldn’t feel so bad about losing out. He wouldn’t be operating under the same structure his father did. Silver lining after all.
It is a relief Ball is not the guy. You can never know how many hits and misses each in house candidate had made on draft picks or free agents over the years, including those who did not become Packers. You have to believe Gutekunst had the best track record, and showed the most conviction in his decisions. I hope the guy who thought Bennett would be better than Cook is not the new GM.
It appeared last year that Gutekunst was receiving more attention than Wolf from other teams. Not sure if that is because teams thought the Packers would protect Wolf from leaving, so they would be wasting their time, or if word got out that Gutekunst was the better man for the job(s).
I would have liked to see the team interview more outside candidates. The team must have thought they had the best man they could get in a reasonable time frame. I do question if the Packers felt the new GM needed to be announced today so the new GM can have a press conference tomorrow.
In the press conference Gutekunst will probably express his great respect for the current head coach. Tell all he is 100% behind MM. The endorsement allows MM to contact some outside defensive coordinators, who will be free agents Tuesday for interviews. An outside defensive coordinator is a must and the outside defensive coordinators need to know the head coach they are discussing potential employment with has the backing of a new GM.
I still do not like that the head coach was in on the interview process. It has the feel of Murphy being selected as president with TT being part of the selection process. It can leave an impression that the employer Is subordinate to the employee who helped in his selection.
Well screw that second to last paragraph. Gutekunst has no authority to fire MM. It is now on Murphy. I’m not saying McCarthy needs to be fired, at this time, even though some may disagree. I just don’t see Murphy making a hard decision without wringing his hands for a couple of years, or more. The firing of a head coach, if needed should be part of the GM job description. It should go without saying the president can fire anyone below him if he needs to do such.
Best thing that could have happened.
I’m not jumping on anyone’s ballsack claiming victory. Yes, great 1st step That TT is gone (sort of).
But until i see strong leadership, and better personell on this team, nobody is getting crowned King until i can see some “real progress”.
One thing i know for sure concerning the Packers brain trust, Rodgers better not get hurt next season, or the season after, or the…..
…Or ever. He needs to play at an MVP level until age 47 because he still owes us that dynasty that everyone was talking about years ago.