What Did We Learn From Brian Gutekunst at His End of Season Presser?

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst, Feb 4, 2026

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst held his season-ending press conference yesterday.

There were plenty of triggering quotes in this presser, but none of them topped Gutey’s endorsement of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia.

“I have a lot of faith in Rich and what we’re doing there.” 

On top of that, Gutekunst also said he has “emphasized special teams” from a personnel standpoint more in the last four or five seasons. I mean what are we talking about here? Packers special teams have been a disaster for years now on the field and in rankings across the league. Then he has the nerve to say he’s emphasized it? If emphasizing special teams means putting Romeo Doubs back to return punts and two rookie receivers who never returned kicks, it’s hard to take seriously.

 

Brian Gutekunst says he's emphasized special teams from a personnel standpoint more in the last four or five seasons and has seen the payoff. Expresses his faith in Rich Bisaccia, too.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 4, 2026

 

Gutekunst was also asked about the cornerback position this season and as expected, he praised Keisean Nixon saying he had a “very, very good year.” Nixon tied for highest penalized player in the NFL in 2025 with 14 penalties. Gutekunst then went on to say, “Do we need wholesale changes? No.” Adding depth was the only other comment he made when talking about the Packers cornerback situation.

Gutekunst said Keisean Nixon had a “very, very good year.” Doesn’t think CB needs wholesale changes but wants to improve depth at the position.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 4, 2026

Well, if you were hoping for big changes on special teams or at cornerback, Brian Gutekunst probably squashed your dreams today

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) February 4, 2026

 

Another kick in the teeth was his response to players who underperformed in 2025 which included his two free agent signings Nate Hobbs and Aaron Banks, alongside Rashan Gary, who disappeared after week seven. 

“We expect everyone under contract to be back," was his response to underperforming players.

The Rashan Gary praise he gave was insane and anybody with eyeballs who watched Gary this season knows there is no chance the “not a high snap count guy” should be back especially at his current salary number. Zero sacks after week seven. ZERO.

Brian Gutekunst on Rashan Gary: "I thought he started out really, really strong. Obviously he had a lot of production early. I think he ended up with 60-some pressures and 7.5 sacks. That's pretty good production in the NFL."

Notes it was not a strong finish for Gary, though.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) February 4, 2026

 

He also praised Josh Jacobs for playing through injury this season and gave him the Aaron Jones treatment by saying how he’s a “really important part of our football team. I think he has a lot of really good years left.” The talk around Jacobs is whether the Packers will keep him at his current salary or try to work on an extension. For those who don’t recall, the Packers low-balled Aaron Jones extremely during contract talks before he ultimately left for the Minnesota Vikings. 

One last thing to cover was Gutey’s comments on Matt LaFleur remaining the head coach of the Packers. Although it ultimately came down to Ed Policy’s decision, he said, “He’s an excellent football coach. To get to where we’re going, he’s the guy we need.”

To most fans perspectives it is fair to assume that this press conference was clearly a disappointment. We didn’t even cover how the offensive line experiment was a disaster, how the injuries derailed the season, his draft picks, and how he compared the injuries this season to the 2010 Packers who won a Super Bowl.

I get what Gutey is trying to say here, but 2010 was a major exception. Having your most important players healthy in January is a HUGE part of playing your best in the biggest games and surviving the playoff gauntlet. It just is. SEA/NE are incredibly healthy teams. https://t.co/92z9ym5GyH

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) February 5, 2026

 

The lack of honesty and transparency isn’t something new and we’ve seen it from Gutekunst before. At this point, it just shows how out of touch he is. Hindsight is 20/20 always, but isn’t it crazy how many prospects Packers fans have loved going into the draft that fell right into their hands, but Gutey’s pick was straight out of left field? I’m not saying the fans are always right, but the draft classes are set in stone that he ultimately picked and they ain’t pretty.

The standard is the standard in Green Bay and it’s to win championships. Without the Micah Parsons trade, does it feel like there is any sense of urgency from Gutey? He’s been general manager for eight years. I guess we’ll find out this offseason because there are major holes in this roster that need to be filled.

“We’ve got to win the games that matter the most in December and January.”#Packers GM Brian Gutekunst answers @jasonjwilde’s question about where the team needs to get better moving forward.

🎥: @packers on YouTube pic.twitter.com/CXXPFo9DVL

— Wilde & Tausch (@WildeAndTausch) February 4, 2026

 

Real Packer Fans Know🧀