Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst isn’t a stranger to blockbuster trades.
Acquiring Micah Parsons in exchange for a pair of first-round draft choices and defensive tackle Kenny Clark was just the latest in a line of bold moves Gutekunst has pulled off since he began calling the shots for the Packers.
According to Gutekunst, it was the experience pulling off another mega-deal that the Packers missed ount on, that helped make adding Parsons, in one of the most impactful trades of the past decade across the NFL, seamless for Green Bay.
Packers’ Brian Gutekunst Leaned on Khalil Mack Trade to Land Micah Parsons
Gutekunst revealed, in a comprehensive report from ESPN, that there was a key lesson he learned from the Chicago Bears scooping Khalil Mack from underneath the Packers that drove Green Bay’s pursuit of Parsons in recent weeks.
“I think what I learned from [the Mack] experience is you’ve got to be in it early,” Gutekunst said Friday.
By remaining steadily interested and in conversation with the Cowboys, Gutekunst and the Packers were able to pounce and pull off a trade mere weeks before the regular season kicked off, in a market where financial resources and flexibility were comparatively limited around the league.
According to ESPN, the Packers received permission to negotiate with Parsons on Tuesday, August 26, and by Thursday, the All-Pro edge was heading to Green Bay.
“The chances of these things [blockbuster trades] happening are pretty slim, and I think that was my mindset the whole time, was keep the conversations going because of the uniqueness of the player,” Gutekunst said. “But I don’t think it was really until the last few days that I actually thought, ‘Hey, there’s an opportunity here to close this thing out.'”
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