(WFRV) Green Bay, Wis. – Just how long Aaron Rodgers will remain as the Packers quarterback has been a big topic since Green Bay picked Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 draft.
The same was true as general manager Brian Gutekunst addressed reporters on Monday ahead of this year’s NFL Draft.
“He’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future. Every year there’s different things you go through to get through the season. I think we’re going through those right now. Whether it be contractually, whether it be working with our players on other things, and that’s where we are,” said Brian Gutekunst.
“He’s such a unique, different player than anyone I’ve ever been around. He affects our organization in so many different ways. You can’t value him because of what we do.”
The draft is the big concern this week, but one thing that’s been an issue throughout the offseason is the shrinking salary cap. The league set the cap this year at $182.5 million dollars ahead of adjustments. That’s down from $198 million the year before due to the pandemic.
Green Bay has been able to bring back three of their biggest names since the start of training camp in 2020. Running back Aaron Jones is the latest after defensive lineman Kenny Clark and tackle David Bakhtiari signed their deals.
There’s still plenty of work to be done, and that could include their biggest salary commitment: Aaron Rodgers.
“It’s very important for us to work through the next two years to get this salary cap thing right. We will have to address many contracts, and that’s certainly one we will probably address as well,” said Gutekunst.
As for the draft, Green Bay probably won’t go for a quarterback again in the first round after trading up to pick Love. That doesn’t mean Gutekunst and company won’t be aggressive to go out and get who they think is the right player.
“If we have a chance to move up and take a specific player that we feel is special, I think you ahve to always consider that. There’s only so many game changing players in this league, and if you ahve the opportunity to acquire one, I think you have to consider it,” said Gutekunst.
Green Bay has plenty of needs heading into the Draft on Thursday night. They could look for wide receiver help, an offensive tackle, or add to their defensive secondary as a few options.
Regardless we’ll find out who makes up that next class over the weekend, and the process of bringing them into the program will be largely the same.
“You guys know around here how important the draft is to our process. Developing players to become future stars here. I think the situation we find ourselves in , maybe differently than we have in the past, we’ve kind of pushed out money into future years because we realize the opportunity that is before us,” said Gutekunst.
