Extra picks give Packers' Gutekunst plenty of trade options

Updated Apr. 25, 2022 6:47 p.m. ET

Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has a history of making draft-day deals and possesses more trade options than usual this year with four of the top 59 overall picks.

The Packers already were picking 28th and 59th before they acquired the 22nd and 53rd overall selections in the

Gutekunst wasn’t tipping his hand Monday on whether these extra picks might make him more likely to make trades.

“Having more picks in the top three rounds than we’ve had in a while, there’s probably temptations on both sides to move around a little bit or just to sit and pick as well,” Gutekunst said. “So we’ll see what’s available, and I think a lot of it is just going to be how the draft falls.”

Green Bay's

The previous time the Packers had two first-round picks was in 2019, when they had the 12th and 30th selections.

Green Bay started the 2018 draft with the 14th overall pick, but traded down to 27 and then moved back up to 18th and

“You’ve got to be careful of falling in love with players, right, because then you start chasing things and getting out of whack value-wise and stuff,” Gutekunst said. “So you’d love for (the draft board) to come to you, but at the same time, I think you have to be realistic about where you’re picking and where the strength of the draft is and if it makes sense to move to a particular area to help your football team, I think you have to be willing to do that.”

Gutekunst said this draft is unusual because so many college players decided to use the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted them because of the pandemic. Gutekunst said that has made this draft deeper in the later rounds while also featuring plenty of players who are older than the typical incoming rookie.

Although the Packers have had the NFC’s best regular-season record each of the past two years, they enter this draft with some pretty clear needs after losing plenty of key players over the past several weeks.

Green Bay also must improve an offensive line that lost two starters from last season after the Packers

as the Packers must replace Adams, who had the most catches (432), yards receiving (5,310) and touchdown receptions (47) of any NFL player over the past four seasons. Green Bay also lost wideouts

The Packers began rebuilding their receiving group by

“He’s got some juice still left in him, I think,” Gutekunst said. “I think adding a veteran receiver was something we wanted to do.”

Gutekunst was asked Monday about the possibility of the Packers pursuing another veteran wideout.

“Across the board at every position, I think we’re kind of looking at everything right now,” Gutekunst said. “So I think this draft’s going to be really important, and then we’ll see where we sit after the draft and we’ll move forward at that point.”

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