Speaking to the media at the NFL's annual meeting this week, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst may have dropped a breadcrumb regarding how Green Bay will attack the 2025 NFL Draft, which is now just weeks away from being held at Lambeau Field.
Gutekunst was asked about fourth-year linebacker pick Quay Walker, specifically whether it was feasible to extend the former first-round pick and keep him in Green Bay long term, considering the Packers already have Edgerrin Cooper, who excelled as a rookie, and Ty'Ron Hopper, a third-round pick from 2024, in the pipeline.
The Packers recently re-signed Isaiah McDuffie to a two-year deal, giving them further depth moving forward.
His response revealed a fair bit about how the team views the state of their linebacker position.
The GM said it was “absolutely" viable to keep Walker beyond his rookie deal, before explaining: "I think we played three linebackers more last year than I expected us to, and I also think in Jeff (Hafley)’s second year, with some of the creative thoughts he may have around playing multiple linebackers."
First-year defensive coordinator Hafley did an admirable job of working with what he had in 2024, and proved his ability to field a competent, or even a quality defense regardless of which pieces were missing. His 4-3 scheme requires three off-ball linebackers in base, which was a change from Joe Barry's 3-4, which only calls for two.
The most telling line from Gutekunst: "If there was anything coming out of this past year, it was that we maybe need more bodies than we had last year to begin with, at the end of the year we got a little thin there, so I think there’s room for all those guys.”Green Bay is returning mostly the same group of linebackers they had a year ago, but they did lose Eric Wilson, who signed with the Vikings and played a considerable amount of defensive snaps in 2024.
Even if Hopper steps up into a more prominent role and helps to fill the void left by Wilson, it can be argued the Packers would be in the same position they were last year at linebacker, when Gutekunst himself said they lacked depth.
That would appear to indicate Green Bay is not done adding to the linebacker room, and they could invest in the position again in this month's draft.
Given they have spent a first, a second and a third-round pick there in the last three years, it would be somewhat surprising if they used a premium draft selection again in 2025, especially given the relative value of the position compared to others on the defensive side of the ball.
But the Packers could attack the position early on day three, with plenty of prospects in that range who could appeal to them, such as Oklahoma's Danny Stutsman, Georgia's Smael Mondon Jr, Notre Dame's Jack Kiser, Penn State's Kobe King and Cal's Teddye Buchanan all potential options as early as round four.
Hafley has shown the credentials that he is a potentially difference-making defensive coordinator. If he feels there is a specific skillset missing from his linebacker group, Gutekunst will likely trust his judgment and do his utmost to give Hafley the horses he needs.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers GM drops 2025 draft strategy hint: "we need more bodies"
