Packers Enter NFL Draft Without First-Round Pick Since 1986

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst enters this week's NFL Draft in Pittsburgh without a first-round selection for the first time since 1986, with the team's initial pick scheduled for No. 52 overall in the second round on Friday.

The Packers traded their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to the Dallas Cowboys in a deal that brought All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay. Despite the absence of an early selection, Gutekunst described the team's preparation process as largely unchanged. "Maybe how we chopped up our 30 visits, what pro days maybe that I went to was maybe a little different than it would have been in the past," he said at a predraft news conference Tuesday at Lambeau Field. "But it hasn't been a whole lot different."

Gutekunst holds eight picks this year, including two each in the fifth and seventh rounds, and anticipates at least 11 selections next year from compensatory picks tied to free-agent departures such as running back Malik Willis, linebacker Quay Walker, wide receiver Romeo Doubs, two-time Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins and left tackle Rasheed Walker. This capital provides flexibility to trade up or down. "I do feel like if the right...