GREEN BAY, Wis. — “You’re never one player away, right?”
That rhetorical question was asked by Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday, a mere 26 hours before he officially pulled off one of the most earth-shattering moves in recent NFL history. He was asked whether a player like Micah Parsons, whom he wouldn’t address specifically, is an exception to his belief.
No, Brian, you might not be right.
“I never believed that,” the eighth-year general manager continued. “Good players make impacts, so any time there’s players of that caliber that you can acquire, you’re trying to. But this is the ultimate team game. I’ve always believed that.”
Gutekunst may not believe that Parsons transforms the Packers into legitimate Super Bowl contenders overnight, at least publicly, but he should. On paper, Green Bay was a good team, a playoff-caliber one. Not a great one, though, and almost certainly not a bonafide threat to bring the Lombardi Trophy back home to 1265 Lombardi Ave., Lambeau Field’s address. The Packers return much of the same squad that went 0-6 last season against the only three NFC teams with better records — the Eagles, Lions and Vikings. Signing former 49ers left guard Aaron Banks and former Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs in free agency to big-money deals appear to be decent moves so far. They don’t tip the NFL scale’s like this one does.
Not only is Parsons a future Hall of Famer if he continues on his current trajectory, he’s one of the league’s best players, if not its best, at what might’ve been Green Bay’s weakest spot. He recently turned 26 and is one of two players in league history, Reggie White the other, with at least 12 sacks in each of his first four seasons. White’s number is one of six retired on the Lambeau Field facade and now Parsons will try to help the green and gold win a Super Bowl like White did.
Gutekunst himself called his pass rush “inconsistent” after the 2024 season. That’s part of the reason why head coach Matt LaFleur fired defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich and replaced him with former Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington. Entering Jeff Hafley’s first season as Packers defensive coordinator in 2024, LaFleur envisioned rushing a traditional four and dropping a traditional seven in coverage. Green Bay’s pass rushers weren’t good enough, so Hafley resorted to exotic pressures featuring the likes of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper or safety Xavier McKinney as one of four pass rushers while defensive linemen dropped into coverage. Still, the Packers finished sixth in scoring defense, allowing 19.9 points per game, sixth in yards per game allowed (315.6) and fourth in takeaways with 31. Adding Parsons to that group at a spot in need of better doesn’t sound too shabby.
While the Packers’ push up front takes a hit with the loss of their longest-tenured player, 2016 first-round pick and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark, they now boast what should be one of the NFL’s most feared edge rusher tandems in Parsons and Rashan Gary. Last season, the Packers registered a combined nine sacks in six games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. That won’t cut it if you’re trying to close the gap between you and the NFC’s upper echelon. Generating pressure how LaFleur wanted just got a lot easier, especially for Gary, who has been bogged down by double teams, chips and thumps without a worthwhile No. 2. And don’t forget 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, who shined in camp and could be in for a breakout third season.
There are some caveats to the premise of this column. Malik Willis is one of the NFL’s best backup quarterbacks, but Jordan Love must stay healthy, unlike last season, for the Packers to remain Super Bowl contenders. He can be a top-10 quarterback who puts the team on his back if he does.
One of the worst teams at catching footballs last season must improve at just that, but rookie first-round wideout Matthew Golden has stick ’em hands and already looks like he can be the team’s best receiver. If he pans out like a true No. 1 this season, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are solid role players at worst. Not to mention a rising star tight end in Tucker Kraft.
An offensive line with lackluster depth must stay relatively healthy, and any Packer fan knows that’s far from a guarantee. If it does, keeping Love upright and paving the way for one of the league’s best running backs in Josh Jacobs rounds out what can be a lethal offense.
Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, a 2022 first-round pick whose fifth-year option was just exercised, and 2023 Day 3 picks Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden must help compensate for the loss of the stalwart Clark, who is fully healthy after recovering from offseason toe surgery. Keisean Nixon must prove he’s a consistently reliable No. 1 cornerback, though that task might’ve just gotten easier with Parsons and Gary unlikely to give quarterbacks all day to throw.
Those are a lot of ifs, but every team has them. What’s not an uncertainty and rather a stone-cold fact is that the Packers just instantly upgraded their chances of winning their first Super Bowl in 15 years by doing what they almost did in 2018.
Gutekunst was in his first year as general manager. On the eve of that regular season seven years ago, he finished runner-up to the division rival Chicago Bears for Khalil Mack, who won NFL Defensive Player of the Year two seasons prior. There was no runner-up finish this time for an elite edge rusher in the prime of his career. Gutekunst, whose job may be on the line this season under new team president Ed Policy, took out his driver and swung away. Might that have factored into his decision to pull the trigger? Who cares at this point? One of the NFL’s best players, for now and the foreseeable future, is a Packer. The team known for always being in the mix but rarely closing deals just executed a seismic trade that can shift the landscape of the NFC.
The Packers made Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, according to the contract numbers announced by his agency. He signed a four-year extension with Green Bay for $188 million with $136 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $47 million. There’s no denying it’s a massive investment, but it’s one you make every time, especially if you only have to give up a player, albeit a solid one, and two first-round picks.
Why? Because as one of my fellow beat writers once said, Green Bay, Wisconsin is nicknamed “Titletown, not NFC North Title Town, not Wild-Card Round Town, not Playoff Regular Town.”
Super Bowl titles are what matter here and the Packers just became a legitimate threat to win one. Yes, Brian, because of this one player.
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