GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Just because Brian Gutekunst doesn't have a first-round pick doesn't necessarily mean he will wait until No. 52 to make his first selection in this week's NFL draft.
The Packers' general manager, who traded two first-rounders (2026, 2027) to the Dallas Cowboys to acquire Micah Parsons in August, believes he has the ability to move up within Round 2 if there is a player he covets but isn't likely to be there when Green Bay is on the clock.
"We're sitting with eight picks right now," Gutekunst said Tuesday during his annual predraft press conference. "[With] the compensatory formula, we won't know exactly what we have for next year, but we feel pretty good about the amount of picks we're going to have next year. So I do feel like, if the right player were there, that we would be able to go get him."
That's one of the reasons Gutekunst will be paying close attention to what happens in Thursday's first round even though he knows moving up into the first round would be almost impossible.
Gutekunst and his scouts went through their usual process even though it's the first time they haven't had a first-round pick since he became GM in 2018. In fact, it's the first time the Packers have gone into a draft without a first-rounder since 1986. Twice since then they traded out of the first round. That happened in 2008 and 2017 when then-GM Ted Thompson traded back.
"What happens on Thursday [Round 1] will affect Friday [Rounds 2-3] and Saturday [Rounds 4-7], so we'll be in tune with it," Gutekunst said. "It'll probably be a little different, but I do think it's important. We put a lot of work into these guys that you kind of, you kind of look at this, 'OK, hey, how do we see this shaking out? What would we do here, if it was us.' Things like that."
The only thing that might be different, according to Gutekunst?
"The phones won't be as busy, that's for sure," Gutekunst said. "But we're going to kind of keep our ears open. We put a lot of work into this with the players that are going to be picked in that round, and this year it'll be a little bit more fun, just because it's going to be less chaotic. But we're going to try to stay with our process that we've always been."
If there's one thing the Packers need from this draft, it's a cornerback. And possibly more than one. The Packers signed free agent Benjamin St-Juste to go along with returning starters Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, but it was a weak spot on their defense last season.
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had the Packers taking Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell at No. 52 in his two-round mock draft, while Jordan Reid had the Packers taking Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette in the third round (at No. 84 overall) in his latest mock draft which covered all seven rounds.
"We are going to add numbers there," Gutekunst said. "Obviously bringing in Benjamin along with Keisean and Carrington you've got three guys that have seen significant snaps in their career, and I feel good about those guys going out and playing.
"Some of our young guys, I'm interested to see with our new coaching staff how they adapt to what we're going to ask them to do, but we do need to add some numbers there."
