Brian Gutekunst - Pro Football Rumors

Packers To Hire Brian Gutekunst As GM

January 7th, 2018 at 12:33pm CST by Rory Parks

The Packers are promoting their director of player personnel, Brian Gutekunst, to general manager, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that it will be a five-year deal for Gutekunst.

Gutekunst is highly respected in scouting circles, and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes that Gutekunst is the most well-rounded scout in Green Bay’s personnel department. Demovsky adds that Gutekunst dazzled Packers’ brass in his recent interview with the club.

Green Bay elected to hire Gutekunst, who has a strong personnel background, as opposed to fellow internal candidate Russ Ball, who is more of a salary cap guru (despite the fact that Ball was seen as the frontrunner throughout much of this process). In addition to Ball, the team also interviewed director of football operations Eliot Wolf, who for years was seen as the heir apparent to longtime GM Ted Thompson. Thompson, of course, stepped down to a different role within the organization at the beginning of the month, thereby triggering the team’s search for a replacement. It will be interesting to see what will become of Wolf and Ball now.

The Packers also expressed interest in Vikings assistant GM George Paton — though Minnesota denied Green Bay’s request to interview Paton — Seahawks GM John Schneider, and Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta. But in Gutekunst, they get an executive who was been with the club for 19 years — he started his Packers tenure as a collegiate scout — and who appears ready for his chance to run a franchise. Indeed, he had an excellent interview with the 49ers last offseason and nearly became San Francisco’s GM.

As Ed Werder tweets, an internal hiring like this one may be good news for Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, whose long-term future with the team could be bolstered with Gutekunst’s promotion.

Gutekunst was scheduled to interview with the Texans for Houston’s GM job today. Per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter), Gutekunst did travel to Houston yesterday and had dinner with Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, but Green Bay never gave him the chance to interview with with the Texans.

The Texans, meanwhile, are likely to hire Bills VP of player personnel Brian Gaine as their next GM, according to multiple sources.

Texans To Interview Packers’ Brian Gutekunst

January 6th, 2018 at 4:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brian Gutekunst interviewed about the Packers’ sudden GM vacancy earlier this week, and he’ll make a trip outside of Green Bay to meet about another opening soon.

The Texans will interview Gutekunst on Sunday in Houston, Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets.

Houston has already scheduled an interview with Bills exec Brian Gaine, who is viewed as the early favorite, but Gutekunst — currently the Packers’ player personnel director — has been a popular target over the past two offseasons. He was also mentioned as a Texans candidate once Rick Smith’s leave of absence opened this position to outsiders.

Gutekunst may also be fighting an uphill battle in Green Bay, with Russ Ball viewed by some as the favorite to succeed Ted Thompson. This occurring could certainly prompt Gutekunst to look elsewhere for a job, and the Texans are going to evaluate him this weekend.

The Packers exec interviewed with the 49ers and Bills last year for their GM openings. He withdrew from consideration for the San Francisco job.

Packers Interview Russ Ball, Brian Gutekunst

January 5th, 2018 at 9:05pm CST by GregGoldstein

With Ted Thompson out as general manager in Green Bay, the team has finished interviewing internal candidates regarding the vacant position. After the the Packers spoke with director of football operations Eliot Wolf yesterday, they just finished up talking to VP of football administration Russ Ball and director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst this afternoon, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Breer adds that the Packers will speak with their first external candidate for the position in former Bills GM Doug Whaley tomorrow.

This is the first time that Green Bay is looking for a new leader of the team’s football operations in 13 years. There’s been a recent report that Ball is the favorite to become the next general manager for the Packers. However, there’s been speculation that should the job go to Ball, Wolf and Gutekunst would head to different teams. Although, should one of the two get the job the other would stay in the front office.

While Whaley is the lone person from outside the organization that ownership is scheduled to meet with at the moment, the Packers did get rejected from interviewing Vikings executive George Paton and still have their eye on scheduling a meeting with long time Ravens front office member Eric Decosta. However, Decosta seems like a longshot considering his willingness to stay as the “general manager in waiting” behind Ozzie Newsome.

Packers Want To Interview Ravens’ Eric DeCosta

January 5th, 2018 at 11:47am CST by Zachary Links

The Packers are seeking to interview Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, according to Mike Florio of PFT. It’s not immediately clear whether a formal request has been submitted. If the Packers have in fact asked for a meeting, it’s not Ravens or DeCosta himself have consented.

In the past, DeCosta has turned down potential opportunities to become a GM elsewhere. He has been in the Ravens organization for more than 20 years and is widely viewed as the heir apparent to GM Ozzie Newsome.

For now, there are three known candidates for the Packers job, and they’re all in-house. Director of football operations Eliot Wolf interviewed on Thursday, Director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst has his interview today (per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter), and VP of football administration Russ Ball should follow shortly thereafter. The Packers asked to interview Vikings exec George Paton, but the request was denied by their NFC North rivals.

Packers Hope To Hire GM Next Week

January 3rd, 2018 at 2:13pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers are expected to start their GM interviews on Thursday with an eye on making a hire next week, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). They’ll likely start by interviewing their trio of internal candidates: Russ Ball, Eliot Wolf, and Brian Gutekunst.

Ball, the team’s vice president of football administration, is said to have a strong rapport with Packers president Mark Murphy. Promoting him to the GM post would likely lead Wolf and Gutekunst to go elsewhere, but if either Wolf or Gutekunst gets the job, the other exec will likely stay in Green Bay. That could weigh heavily on the decision made by Packers president Mark Murphy, who will be working with search firm Korn Ferry to make the determination.

Wolf and Gutekunst have been in the running for GM jobs in each of the last few offseasons. If they decide to leave the nest, it would not be surprising to see both men running teams in 2018.

Packers Notes: GM Search, Ball, Wolf, Evans

January 2nd, 2018 at 7:58pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Now that the Packers have reassigned former general manager Ted Thompson (he’s now a senior advisor to football operations, the club announced today), Green Bay is searching for a new decision-maker atop its personnel department. Incumbent vice president of football administration Russ Ball is thought to be a candidate for the position and has a “close relationship” with Packers president Mark Murphy, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, but promoting Ball could cause other problems for Green Bay. If Ball (or an external candidate is hired), the Packers will likely lose fellow personnel men Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutekunst to other clubs, reports Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. However, if one of Wolf or Gutenkunst is promoted to GM, the other man will likely stay in Green Bay, per Silverstein.

Here’s more on the Packers:

While the Packers will utilize search firm Korn Ferry as they look for a new general manager, Murphy told reporters that he will make the final call on the club’s top personnel job (Twitter links via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com). Additionally, Green Bay’s next GM will have the power to fire the team’s head coach, an interesting development given that Mike McCarthy is currently signed through 2019. Murphy said “[McCarthy] will be our coach,” an indication that the new Packers general manager will be stuck with McCarthy for at least one campaign.
Green Bay’s decision to extend McCarthy’s contract will allow the longtime head coach more flexibility as he seeks to fill out his staff, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. The most pressing decision for McCarthy will be to hire a new defensive coordinator following Dom Capers‘ firing, but the Packers will also see change on the offensive side of the ball. Luke Getsy, who’s served as Green Bay’s wide receivers coach for the past two seasons, is now Mississippi State’s offensive coordinator, per Demovsky.
The Packers have interest in re-signing veteran guard Jahri Evans, who will become a free agent in March, per Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com (Twitter link). Evans would likely need to accept less than the $2.25MM he earned in 2017, per Wood, and the 34-year-old offensive lineman would almost certainly ink a one-year pact. In his first season outside of New Orleans, Evans ranked as the No. 30 guard among 82 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

Latest On Texans’ GM Search

January 2nd, 2018 at 12:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans’ GM search is just getting underway, but we’re already getting an idea of the names that could be in play for the job. External candidates expected to receive interest include Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort of the Patriots, Brian Gaine of the Bills, and Brian Gutekunst of the Packers (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).

Caserio is among this year’s top candidates for a GM position. While he rejected overtures from other teams before, a prime opportunity like the one in Houston could be the one to get him to leave New England. Some have speculated that he could wind up as a package deal with Josh McDaniels as head coach, but it sounds like Bill O’Brien will be retained by the Texans.

The Texans are on the hunt for a new GM after Rick Smith announced he would be taking a leave of absence to care for his wife, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. When Smith does return to the team, he’ll retain his Executive Vice President title, but he indicated that he will not be in charge of football decisions.

“In whatever role that is, I am going to maintain Executive Vice President title. If we hire a GM and have a guy to run the personnel, then we’ll do that,” Smith said. “So, again, it’s a fluid process, but I am absolutely intend on coming back, I will maintain that at least the Executive Vice President title and if Mr. McNair feels like he wants to hire a general manager, then he will hire a general manager and that will be just fine.“

Ted Thompson Out As Packers GM

January 1st, 2018 at 5:42pm CST by Micah Powell

The Packers are now searching for a new general manager after Ted Thompson is expected to take a new role in the organization, sources tell NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen confirmed Thompson will assume a new role within the team and the front office will undergo an overhaul, led by team president Mark Murphy (Twitter link).

Thompson has operated as the team’s general manager since 2005 and has been with the team through two stints since 1992. In his first NFL Draft, Thompson selected Aaron Rodgers with the 24th overall pick. Green Bay has been among the best teams in the draft since Thompson’s arrival, plucking stars like Clay Matthews and Jordy Nelson.

Under Thompson’s watch, the team advanced to the playoffs nine times and won the Super Bowl in 2010. The Packers missed the postseason for the first time since 2008 when it finished 7-9 in 2017.

There are several internal candidates to keep an eye on to take over as general manager, including director of college scouting Brian Gutekunst, director of football operations Eliot Wolf and vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball, Rapoport reports (Twitter link). Mortensen reported all three are expected to receive new duties with the change. (Twitter link). The team is expected hire a true general manager and will not operate with all three in the position, ESPN’s Jason Wilde reports (Twitter link).

John Dorsey Unlikely To Return To Packers?

June 22nd, 2017 at 8:01pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After being fired as the Chiefs’ general manager earlier today, John Dorsey is unlikely to return to the Packers, with whom he’s the spent the majority of his professional career, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4).

Dorsey has been mentioned as a candidate to succeed Green Bay GM Ted Thompson since January, when a report indicated Dorsey could head to Green Bay when his Kansas City contract expired after 2017. Dorsey helped to build the Packers into a consistent contender, first as a college scout from 1991-97 and then as director of college scouting in 1998. After a one-year stint as the Seahawks’ director of player personnel in 1999, Dorsey returned to the Packers, where he served as the team’s director of college scouting from 2000-11 and as the director of football operations in 2012.

However, the next Packers general manager is more likely to be one of director of football operations Eliot Wolf, director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, or vice president of football administration Russ Ball, per Robinson. Wolf and Gutekunst, specifically, have turned down opportunities to interview elsewhere (including San Francisco earlier this year) in order to remain in Green Bay, while Ball has been “working to broaden his knowledge base” in order to be prepared for a jump to GM.

That’s not to say Dorsey doesn’t have interest in returning to the Packers, as Robinson reports Dorsey has “overwhelming respect” for Thomspson and is “very fond” of the Packers organization. But his presence on Green Bay’s personnel staff could “ruffle some feathers,” per Robinson, especially because the trio of Wolf, Gutekunst, and Ball have remained on board instead of pursuing other jobs.

Bills Interview Packers’ Brian Gutekunst

May 8th, 2017 at 9:59am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills interviewed Packers Director of Player Personnel Brian Gutekunst on Monday (today) for the GM job, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). He now the fourth known candidate for the position. The Bills have since confirmed the news via press release.

Gutekunst has long been considered a top GM candidate and the Packers have not promised him that he will be the successor to Ted Thompson. However, it’s not a given that Gutekunst will leave for the Bills even if he’s offered the gig. This offseason, he was considered to be the favorite for the 49ers’ vacancy before withdrawing his name from consideration. Apparently, he received a new deal from the Packers (read: pay raise) that kept him from leaving.

After coach Sean McDermott effectively ran this year’s draft in Buffalo, it’s not clear if the Bills’ next GM will have final say over the 53-man roster. Gutekunst turned down an opportunity to run things in San Francisco in which he would have ceded some control to Kyle Shanahan, so this position might not suit him either.

So far, the Bills have also interviewed Eagles’ director of college scouting Trey Brown, Panthers executive Brandon Beane, and Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine.