Brian Gutekunst

Brian Willis Gutekunst (born July 19, 1973) is an American football executive who is the general manager for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He joined the team in 1998 and served as a scout and assistant executive before being promoted to general manager in 2018.

Gutekunst was born on July 19, 1973, in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[1] His father, John Gutekunst, was the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers 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.

Gutekunst spent most of the 1998 NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs as a scouting assistant. He then joined the Packers as a college scout for the East Coast of the United States. Gutekunst assumed his position as director of college scouting in 2012. He was promoted to director of player personnel in March 2016.

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.^[2]

The Packers were over the salary cap for the upcoming 2018 season, as Jordy Nelson and Morgan Burnett would end it up intro their new teams in free agents^{[clarification needed]} and traded away former first round draft pick Damarious Randall to the Cleveland Browns for DeShone Kizer. In the 2018 NFL Draft the Gutekunst selected Jaire Alexander out the University of Louisville 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.

On January 7, 2019, the Packers hired Matt LaFleur as their new head coach. In the offseason, the Packers lost Randall Cobb and Clay Matthews to free agency, but they signed former Chicago Bears safety Adrian Amos as well as Linebackers Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith. In the 2019 NFL Draft, the team selected Michigan linebacker Rashan Gary with the 12th pick and Maryland safety Darnell Savage with the 21st pick. The team selected Elgton Jenkins from Mississippi State in the second round.

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 and Blake Martinez. In the 2020 NFL draft, the Packers selected quarterback Jordan Love out of Utah State, and later they selected Boston College running back A. J. Dillon, as well as Cincinnati tight end Josiah Deguara in the third round.

On April 26, 2023, the Packers traded Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets which caused Jordan Love to begin as their next starting quarterback. In the 2023 NFL Draft, the Packers selected Iowa 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, Penn State 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.

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.

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