Ron Wolf, who transformed the Green Bay Packers from a team of ridicule to Super Bowl victors during his tenure as general manager, is known for his famous saying: “As soon as I start listening to the fans, I’ll become one of them.” These words ring true, yet the fans have been vocally critical of the current Packers’ general manager, Brian Gutekunst.
Recent analysis from Betway.com, which utilized a social listening tool, assessed the popularity of NFL general managers among their fanbases since the onset of free agency. Gutekunst is not faring well, ranking as the second least popular NFL GM with a positive sentiment score of merely 10%. Only Atlanta’s Terry Fontenot scored lower at 9%.
Conversely, Jacksonville’s James Gladstone topped the list with a 96% approval rate, followed by Minnesota’s Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (88%), Denver’s George Paton (75%), Chicago’s Ryan Poles (70%), and Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta (60%).
Heading into free agency, the Packers had approximately $46 million in cap space, but Gutekunst’s two significant acquisitions failed to impress. The Packers inked offensive guard Aaron Banks to an extensive four-year, $77 million contract and cornerback Nate Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million deal.
Many fans in Packer Nation had hoped for the signing of a high-caliber wide receiver or defensive end to address the team’s most pressing needs. However, such arrangements require mutual interest, and when Gutekunst couldn’t secure those positions, he opted for an alternative approach.
The fan community was evidently dissatisfied with these choices. As the legendary Wolf once noted, listening to the fanbase might not be the best strategy for job security. Hence, Gutekunst might be prudent to disregard the public clamor.
