Today’s press conference with Brian Gutekunst confirmed a few things we already knew, but also shed some light on things we didn’t.
1. Aaron Rodgers has impacted more than just his relationship with the front office.
During the Packers’ last off-season it was made obvious that Aaron Rodgers was unhappy. Communication was the number one reason for Rodgers being disgruntled. Since the start of the 2021 season however, Rodgers has praised Head Coach Matt LaFleur, Gutekunst and the rest of the organization for the improvements that were made with communication inside the building over the past year.
"Sometimes you need to go through some storms to get to the shine." — Brian Gutekunst on making it through last offseason with a disgruntled Aaron Rodgers
— Aaron Rodgers after making it through his 12-day cleanse
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 23, 2022
“This has been more a conversation about kind of where we’re heading together,” Gutekunst said. “There’s a process that obviously we’re going through. There’s a process that he’s going through and we’re very respectful of that.”
This marks multiple times that Aaron Rodgers and Brian Gutekunst have gone out of their way to praise the communication within the entire organization, not just between Rodgers and the General Manager. Trust and communication with your players is how you get them to stay.
2. Green Bay’s Offensive Line is on track to be back.
Brian Gutekunst just sat down with a small group of writers after his podium session. Here are cliff notes (1/2):
• Feels “really good” about Bakhtiari as future LT
• Jenkins ACL rehab going “great”
• Never told Rodgers last year he’d trade him this offseason if he wanted— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 23, 2022
Green Bay ended the 2021 season with a back up left tackle, left guard, center who had missed most of the season, and a make shift right side of the offensive line. Green Bay having their best two offensive lineman in Jenkins and Bakhtiari on track to return is huge news. No doubt the adjustments and schemes that Adam Stenavich did with the offensive line even with all their injuries was impressive, but that line could have been an all-time great one if healthy. That potentially all-time great offensive line looks to take the field together week one. Green Bay has two unrestricted free agents, Lucas Patrick and Dennis Kelly. The rest of the offensive line is under contract for the 2022 season.
3. The Packers have a confident plan for the salary cap.
Green Bay has already saved a little more than 10 million with Kenny Clark’s restructure, and it won’t be the last one.
🚨 #Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on whether the team will need to cut players in order to fit under the salary cap: pic.twitter.com/yhJBBDdqw5
— J.J. Lahey 🧀 Packers Talk (@JJLahey) February 23, 2022
Brian specifically uses the term that this off-season “won’t be a fire sale.” “I feel very confident about that,” Gutekunst said. “I gotta give a lot of credit to Russ. He’s done an excellent job and we’ve worked through a lot of different scenarios. There’s always challenges but having good players here you work around that. I think having those guys here certainly makes us a very good football team.”
In conclusion:
Green Bay is going into this off-season with absolutely no intention of trading Rodgers. Green Bay is also extremely confident in their ability to remain competitive and have a plan for their salary cap. Free agents like Davante Adams, Devondre Cambell, and Rasul Douglas are all players they want back and are willing to do whatever it takes to bring them back.
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