Brian Willis Gutekunst (born July 19, 1973) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

executive who is the

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for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

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(NFL). He joined the team in 1998 and served as a scout and assistant executive before being promoted to general manager in 2018.

Biography

Gutekunst was born on July 19, 1973, in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. His father, John Gutekunst, was the head coach of the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

football team. Gutekunst attended the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. During his time there, he played defensive back on the football team before suffering a career-ending shoulder injury. Afterwards, he served as an assistant coach with the team, including during their 1995 Division III National Championship season.

Scouting career

Gutekunst spent most of the 1998 NFL season with the

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as a scouting assistant. He then joined the Packers as a college scout for the

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. Gutekunst assumed his position as director of college scouting in 2012. He was promoted to director of player personnel in March 2016.

General manager career

In January 2018, Packers general manager Ted Thompson, who had been recently diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder, assumed a reduced role and named Gutekunst to the position after interviewing other internal candidates.

2018

The Packers were over the salary cap for the upcoming 2018 season, as

Jordy Nelson Jordy Ray Nelson (born May 31, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders. He played ...

and

Morgan Burnett Morgan Mark Burnett (born January 13, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the t ...

would end it up intro their new teams in free agents and traded away former first-round draft pick Damarious Randall to the

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for DeShone Kizer. In the 2018 NFL draft the Gutekunst selected Jaire Alexander out the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

with the 18th pick of the first round. Gutekunst selected DB Joshua Jackson from Iowa, LB Oren Burks from Vanderbilt, WRs J'Mon Moore in fourth round, Marquez Valdes-Scantling in fifth round and Equanimeous St. Brown from Notre Dame who ended up in sixth round. They also drafted J. K. Scott and Hunter Bradley. On December 2, 2018, after a 4–7–1 start, the team fired

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

2019

On January 7, 2019, the Packers hired

Matt LaFleur Matthew Robert LaFleur ( ; born November 3, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the quarterback coach of the W ...

as their new head coach. In the offseason, the Packers lost Randall Cobb and Clay Matthews to free agency, but they signed former

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safety Adrian Amos as well as Linebackers Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith. In the

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, the team selected

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linebacker Rashan Gary with the 12th pick and

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safety Darnell Savage with the 21st pick. The team selected Elgton Jenkins from

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in the second round.

2020

In free agency the Packers signed former Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey and tackle Rick Wagner from the Detroit Lions following departure of

Bryan Bulaga Bryan Joseph Bulaga ( ; born March 21, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was an Tackle (gridiron football position), offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college footbal ...

and Blake Martinez. In the 2020 NFL draft, the Packers selected quarterback Jordan Love out of Utah State, and later they selected

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running back A. J. Dillon, as well as

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tight end Josiah Deguara in the third round.

2023

On April 26, 2023, the Packers traded

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to the

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which caused Jordan Love to begin as their next starting quarterback. In the 2023 NFL draft, the Packers selected

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pass rusher Lukas Van Ness with the 13th pick. Additionally, they drafted wide receivers Jayden Reed in second round and Dontayvion Wicks in the fifth round, tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft,

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quarterback Sean Clifford as their next backup, defensive linemen Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks and undrafted free agent additions of Malik Heath and Emanuel Wilson.

2024

Over the off-season, the Packers released David Bakhtiari, De'Vondre Campbell and Aaron Jones as free agents and had additions of Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney and notable 2024 NFL draft picks such as Jordan Morgan in first round, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and safeties Javon Bullard and Evan Williams. Bullard become the fourth Georgia player ever drafted by Packers.

2025

In offseason the Packers notable Departures of A. J. Dillon, Eric Stokes, Josh Myers and Tedarrell Slaton in free agents. In Additions of former 49ers Offensive guard Aaron Banks and former Raiders Cornerback Nate Hobbs. In 2025 NFL draft the Packers selected two wide receivers selected of Matthew Golden in first round and Savion Williams in third round.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutekunst, Brian 1973 births Green Bay Packers general managers Living people Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football coaches Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football players Green Bay Packers scouts Green Bay Packers executives Kansas City Chiefs scouts Players of American football from Raleigh, North Carolina NFL general managers