Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst deserves his flowers for his work last offseason. The Packers lacked salary-cap flexibility and traded away their Hall of Fame quarterback, but Gutekunst rebuilt the offense around Jordan Love and opened a new Super Bowl window.
Calling last year's draft class a home run is an understatement. Gutekunst hit it out of the park. He found Lukas Van Ness, Luke Musgrave, and Jayden Reed with the Packers' top three picks. He then added Dontayvion Wicks, Karl Brooks, and Carrington Valentine on Day 3.
For all the praise Gutekunst has deservedly received for his draft picks, the underrated part of the job is knowing when to move on from players. His decision-making was flawless.
Gutekunst moved on from these five players last offseason and got it right.
Adrian Amos
Adrian Amos enjoyed four excellent seasons in Green Bay. He never missed a start, producing consistent, reliable play at the safety position. However, his first season with the New York Jets didn't go to plan.
Amos played 11 games in New York but only started three. His role decreased after the opening four games, with Amos playing seven or fewer defensive snaps in six of the next seven games. The veteran safety requested his release, ending his time with the Jets.
Amos signed with the Houston Texans, where he played five games with no starts. He becomes a free agent again this offseason. The Packers moved on at the right time.
Randall Cobb
In the least surprising news of the offseason, Randall Cobb followed Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, signing a team-friendly one-year deal. Cobb is one of Rodgers' most trusted targets. The issue is that Rodgers only played four snaps.
The entire Jets offense struggled with backup quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, and Tim Boyle, and Cobb failed to make a consistent impact in his first season with the Jets.
Cobb was active for 11 games, starting one, but finished with only five receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown.
The Packers replaced Cobb by drafting slot receiver Jayden Reed in the second round. Reed is already one of Jordan Love's top targets, catching a team-best 64 passes for 793 yards and eight touchdowns in his rookie season.
It's unlikely Cobb would've stayed in Green Bay following Rodgers' departure, but the Packers made the correct decision to rebuild the wide receiver corps around Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Brian Gutekunst hit a home run by drafting Reed and made the right call to move on from Cobb.
Cobb didn't get a chance to play with Rodgers in 2023 and is a free agent again this offseason. The Jets must determine whether to bring him back on another one-year deal.
Allen Lazard
Randall Cobb wasn't the only former Packers receiver to join Aaron Rodgers in New York. Green Bay easily could've offered Allen Lazard a new deal, giving Jordan Love a veteran receiver who knew the offense. Instead, Brian Gutekunst decided to move forward with rookies and second-year receivers, with the Jets handing Lazard a four-year deal worth $44 million.
The Packers have built one of the most talented young receiving groups in the league, while the Jets are stuck with Lazard's contract for at least another season.
And despite handing him a significant deal, the Jets made Lazard a healthy scratch in multiple games. In the 14 he played, Lazard caught just 23 passes for 311 yards and a touchdown.
We can assume Lazard's numbers would've improved with a healthy Rodgers, but it's still nowhere near good enough. New York signed Cobb specifically to play with Rodgers, but Lazard needed to contribute, considering the contract the Jets gave him. You don't hand a receiver a $44 million deal for 23 receptions in year one, no matter who is throwing the ball. Garrett Wilson had a 1,000-yard season in this offense.
It looks like another bad decision for the Jets, but one Gutekunst got spot on. Maybe New York should've taken note of the fact Green Bay was willing to move on from these players.
Dean Lowry
NFC North rivals signing former Packers has become an annual tradition. The list goes on, from Equanimeous St. Brown to Lucas Patrick to Chandon Sullivan to Jamaal Williams to Datone Jones.
Dean Lowry is one of the latest Packers free agents to stay in the division. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings last offseason but didn't make the impact they would've hoped for after signing a two-year deal.
Lowry was limited to only nine games due to injury. In that time, he made zero sacks, zero QB hits, 14 tackles, and zero tackles for loss, earning a disappointing PFF grade of 47.4. Lowry is already considered a potential cap casualty for the Vikings this offseason.
The Packers forced themselves to get better along the defensive line by moving on from Lowry in free agency. Along with the emergence of Devonte Wyatt in his second season, Green Bay selected Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks on Day 3 of the draft. Wooden had a solid rookie year, but Brooks was one of the steals of the draft, making four sacks, five QB hits, and six tackles for loss.
Gutekunst understood that change was required along the defensive line. He deserves credit for his draft picks, but the decision to move on from Lowry was just as important.
Robert Tonyan
It was a similar story at tight end. With the Packers entering 2024 with a first-year starting quarterback, it would've been tempting to offer new deals to free-agent tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis to give Jordan Love two dependable receiving options.
Instead, the Packers moved on in free agency, with Tonyan and Lewis signing with the Chicago Bears. Gutekunst drafted Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, who combined for 707 yards and three touchdowns, even with Musgrave missing six games.
Tonyan barely made an impact in Chicago, catching 11 passes for 112 yards. It was his first season in the NFL without a receiving touchdown and his worst receiving yards total since 2019 when he was a backup and missed five games to injury.
It's another move the Packers got right. They easily could've gone with the safer option of re-signing Tonyan. He knew the offense and had experience. Green Bay went for the bold move of beginning the season with two rookies at tight end, and it paid off. Musgrave and Kraft have already become a game-changing combination for the Packers, and the sky is the limit.
When will NFC North rivals learn to stop signing former Packers in free agency? It rarely works out.