Gutekunst Could Be Wheeling and Dealing on Friday

Armed with four picks on Friday, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst believes he is in a strong position entering Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst / Photo by USA Today Sports Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, armed with two picks in the second round and two more selections in the third round for Day 2 of the NFL Draft on Friday, might be ready to play Let’s Make a Deal.

“I think we’re all eager to get back and see how this thing falls and see how we can help our football team,” Gutekunst said after using his first-round pick on Jordan Morgan.

“The board has held up pretty well, so we feel good about going into tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a big day for our organization. I’ve talked about how important the draft is. To have four picks tomorrow in the second and third round, we have a nice opportunity to help our football team. I think we’re all really eager to get after it tomorrow.”

The Packers possess the 41st and 58th picks of the second round and the 88th and 91st picks of the third round. Pick No. 41 is the ninth pick of the round.

With four picks, Gutekunst is positioned to maneuver up and back, depending on the strength of his draft board and whether there’s a particular prospect he particularly wants.

Using the Rich Hill trade-value chart at DraftTek, here are some scenarios:

- Pairing pick No. 41 of the second round with either of the third-round picks would get Green Bay up to No. 33 (the first pick of the second round).

- Pairing pick No. 41 of the second round with No. 126 of the fourth round would get the Packers up to No. 36.

- Pairing pick No. 58 of the second round with No. 126 of the fourth round would get the Packers up to No. 50.

- Pairing pick No. 88 and No. 91 of the third round would get the Packers to No. 58 of the second round.

- Pairing pick No. 88 of the third round and No. 126 of the fourth round would get the Packers up to No. 72 of the third round.

Of course, Gutekunst might be tempted to move back. If the Packers moved back seven spots, retreating from No. 41 to No. 48, they’d be in line for a pick in the middle of the fourth round.

“I think we’ll explore some opportunities,” he said when asked about moving up like he did in 2022, when he traded Nos. 53 and 59 to get to No. 34 for Christian Watson. “Having that many picks in these next two rounds allows us to be a little bit flexible. We talked a little bit about it tonight. We’ll re-assess in the morning, just try to get a little bit of an idea of how we think it might fall. Again, it’s pretty unpredictable, but I think there’s opportunities.

“One of the intriguing things about some of the offers tonight was moving back and gaining some picks, as you guys know, I like to do. So, that could be an option, too, so we’ll see.”

Before selecting Morgan, Gutekunst said there were trade offers on the table on Thursday night, whether it was moving back in the first round or trading out altogether. Trading up was never really a consideration.

“We were looking at some different things throughout,” he said. “I think the board held up really strong, which I feel like I say every year, and it did. So, we were really happy with the way it went. There was a couple things we were looking at to kind of look at did it make sense to move backwards.

“At the end of the day, because Jordan was available, I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to make sure we secured the player because I didn’t feel great about where we were going to move to (and) how it might fall.”

The NFL Draft continues with the second and third rounds on Friday. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2024 NFL Draft

Our draft grades | National Round 1 grades

Day 2 draft fits

First Round: Jordan Morgan 

First Round: Jordan Morgan’s short arms