Paul Bretl | 4/3/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — During GM Brian Gutekunst’s season-ending press conference following the Packers’ loss to Philadelphia, he brought up the need for greater “urgency” and “not getting complacent.”
Creating and maintaining the sense of urgency throughout the year will be an important element when it comes to competing for championships, which Gutekunst also said is time to start doing.
But what did Gutekunst mean by more urgency? And who does it apply to?
“I think the urgency comment is really more for our team, our organization to understand what the expectations are,” said Gutekunst at the annual NFL league meetings on Monday.
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During the second half of the 2024 season, it looked like this Packers team was trending in the right direction. They had won five of six games coming out of the bye week and had scored 30 or more points in five straight outings.
However, with the flip of a switch, things went cold, especially on the offensive side of the football. The Packers entered their Week 17 matchup with Minnesota still fighting for better playoff positioning. But a loss that week, followed by another to Chicago at home in Week 18, left the Packers as the NFC’s seventh seed and fortunate that the league expanded the playoffs a few years ago.
Green Bay’s season then ended one week later in the NFC’s wildcard round with a loss to the aforementioned Eagles. Rather than winning their last three games of the regular season, as they did in 2023, and riding a wave of momentum into the playoffs, the Packers sputtered down the stretch, losing their last three games of 2024.
“I think the one thing especially for younger players is you don’t necessarily, it goes by really fast,” said Matt LaFleur on Tuesday at the league meetings. “And before you blink, it seems like you’re at the end of your career.
“So it’s just maximizing those moments and taking advantage on a day-to-day basis of really putting your best foot forward and — because I am a believer, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse every single day. You’re never staying the same. And that’s something we preach to ’em, but ultimately, each individual has to take that to heart and maximize our time together.”
So the Packers expect more urgency from their players to help get this team to being a championship-level contender, but how does that urgency apply to Gutekunst and his roster-building approach?
I’m going to guess that for most, if not all, free agency didn’t play out as expected. Wide receiver and pass rusher were the two big needs the outside world pontificated on for two months between the Packers’ season ending and free agency starting. However, the only addition made at either spot was Green Bay bringing in Mecole Hardman, a receiver and primary return man, on a prove-it deal.
Even the additions that the Packers did make, bringing in cornerback Nate Hobbs and guard Aaron Banks, I’m going to guess weren’t on the radars of many.
However, in terms of spending, the Packers still ranked quite high compared to the rest of the NFL. In terms of total dollars spent, Green Bay ranks 11th, according to Over the Cap. By average annual contract value, they rank fifth.
Now, in guarantee dollars, the Packers rank in the bottom half of the NFL, and that can be a factor for a free agent in deciding where to go if the Packers found themselves competing with other teams for someone, but there haven’t been any reports to suggest that happened.
“I think we were very urgent in free agency,” added Gutekunst. “Obviously, we went after a couple top targets; we were able to acquire them and I think that really is going to help our football team. The urgency comment is across the board. I think it’s for our players, it’s for our organization in how we’re going to approach things.”
A factor that cannot be overlooked in all of this, either, was the strength of this year’s free agent class. Overall, this was a so-so group, and what every team wants to avoid is throwing money at a need just because there is cap space available. It still comes down to whether it’s the right player and whether or not the cost to acquire them makes sense.
“Every free agent class is different,” Gutekunst said. “You have to be honest with yourselves about it; you can’t just go chasing after things and try to create stuff. We very much felt the targets that we targeted were the ones worth targeting.
“So I thought we were pretty aggressive and were able to acquire guys pretty early. But every year is unique with the free agency class, and I think it’s just a matter of how you evaluate that.”
Urgency comes in different forms. What the outside world views as an urgent need may not be what Gutekunst views as an urgent need. Green Bay clearly thought that improving the offensive line needed to be a priority.
In addition to that, I think we can all agree that given the roster outlook at cornerback, receiver, and pass rusher prior to free agency, especially with the uncertainty around Jaire Alexander, that cornerback was the biggest need of the three. That factor was a primary reason why I predicted that cornerback was where the Packers would spend in free agency.
There are also levels of urgency. Think about our own day-to-day lives, not everything that we come across is a level 10 issue that we have to address.
With that said, the big question is, did the Packers do enough this offseason? However, we don’t have that answer yet. We first have to see how the draft plays out and ultimately what takes place on the football field.
I wouldn’t say that the Packers haven’t been urgent up to this point in the offseason, but what urgent looks like to them is different than how the outside world may view it. Now it’s up to Gutekunst to be proven right, otherwise those questions around his approach–and the urgency that comes with that–will only grow.