Plenty of speculation has emerged in recent days regarding the possibility of the Packers making a trade with the Raiders for defensive end Khalil Mack, who undoubtedly would become a linebacker in Mike Pettine’s 3-4 system.
Appearing with Adam Schein of SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio, Packers G.M. Brian Gutekunst fielded a question regarding his philosophy when it comes to the “hypothetical” possibility of swapping picks for a star defensive player. His answer was surprisingly revealing.
“I think with any players that are available, we’re going to look at every avenue to help our football team,” Gutekunst said. “I think we’ve always been a draft and development team here for a long time, but if there are players that can help us, and right now, I think we will use every avenue to help our team.”
Gutekunst’s response to the next question -- whether the team is willing to go all in to win a Super Bowl -- arguably contradicts his answer to the first one.
“We’ve always operated that way,” Gutekunst said. “In this town, there’s only one thing that matters, and that’s winning championships. And I think every year is a new year and every year we’re kind of all in to see if we can do that. So I think that philosophy here has been here for a long time, and hasn’t changed.”
If that’s been the philosophy, it definitely hadn’t been followed by Gutekunst’s predecessor, Ted Thompson. The long-time G.M. notoriously refused to acquire veteran talent, even if such talent could have helped the team’s chances in any given year, opting instead to cling stubborn to the draft-and-develop mantra.
In the end, it’s not clear whether the Packers would make an all-in move for someone like Mack. Given the compensation needed to get him from Oakland and the money necessary to make him happy, it’s probably not something the Packers would do. If they do it, however, that would be the clearest sign yet that these Packers are much different from the Packers of the last 25 years.