GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had an eye on Zaire Franklin long before he traded for the veteran linebacker earlier this offseason. In fact, Gutekunst revealed recently that he actually tried to acquire Franklin early in his career when he was a backup linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts.
When he finally got the chance this offseason, it was an added bonus that he could walk down the hall and ask new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon about Franklin before he acquired him from the Colts for defensive tackle Colby Wooden earlier this month.
In fact, two of Gutekunst's biggest additions this offseason had ties to Gannon from earlier in their careers. It's not necessarily why Gutekunst traded for Franklin and signed defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, but it reinforced his thinking on both players.
"All that stuff is really valuable," Gutekunst said last week at the annual NFL meeting. "Our scouting staff does a great job, too, with the yearly kind of tracking of these guys, but whenever you have coaches come in, it's a nice way for us to debrief them from all their players they've been around and that always helps."
Gannon didn't directly coach Franklin; he was the Colts' cornerbacks coach during Franklin's first three NFL seasons. But he had a more direct hand in Hargrave, who had two of his best NFL seasons while Gannon was the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022.
While coach Matt LaFleur acknowledged the connection between Gannon and his newest defensive players, he was more excited about the fact that the Packers added a pair of veterans to a team that has been the youngest in the NFL each of the past three seasons.
"Yeah, they both played for Gannon, different situations obviously. Zaire was a young player and Gannon was the secondary coach, and then Hargrave when he was the coordinator," LaFleur said. "In limited interaction with those guys, I was really impressed by the people. Certainly the tape speaks for itself. I think we've got two really good football players, but I'm really excited about the type of guys they are coming into the locker room -- some veteran leaders that we're going to have to lean into."
Here are some other noteworthy items gleaned from last week's NFL meeting in Phoenix:
Rich Bisaccia's surprise decision
If LaFleur got an explanation for why special teams coordinator/assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia waited more than a month after last season to step down, he wouldn't share it.
The Packers announced on Feb. 16 that Bisaccia had resigned after four up-and-down seasons on the job. Shortly after, Bisaccia was hired as Clemson University's new special teams coordinator.
"Never had that direct conversation with him," LaFleur said, speculating that Bisaccia wanted to be closer to family who live in Florida.
However, Bisaccia did leave behind some recommendations for LaFleur, who was left in a difficult position because most coaching staffs had already been filled by the time Bisaccia left. LaFleur hired former Patriots specials teams coordinator Cam Achord.
"The timing wasn't the best when you're trying to hire a new special teams coordinator, but yeah, I was super impressed [with Achord]," LaFleur said. "I talked to some guys around the league just in regards to who was available and his name came up quite often. Matter of fact, Rich brought me a list of names on his way out of guys that we should talk to and he was on his list, as well."
Parsons' possible return date
Micah Parsons is likely to miss the start of next season while he continues his recovery from left ACL surgery, but new Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley would rather not take his chances. The Dolphins will play at Green Bay in 2026, though the schedule won't be announced until May.
"Hopefully, [it's] Week 1," said Hafley, the Packers' defensive coordinator in 2024 and 2025. "One of my favorite guys might not be ready to play."
The Packers will not put a timetable on Parsons' return, but he believes he can return within the first month of the regular season.
"Nate Weir, our trainer, was down there with him not too long ago and came back with a really good [report]," Gutekunst said. "It's daily communication. He's an exceptional athlete and we're hoping that takes over here pretty quick and that process goes fast."
Lambeau Field's future
First-year team president Ed Policy reiterated that the organization has no plans to sell the naming rights to Lambeau Field anytime soon, but he must explore ways to maintain and increase revenue that could include sponsorships for the team's practice and training facilities, especially considering the Packers cannot sell parts of the team to private equity investors like the other 31 teams can. The Packers' public ownership structure prevents such a sale.
"What I can't allow is for us to fall behind because if we do fall behind, we're not talking about needing tens of millions, we're talking about needing hundreds of millions to catch up," Policy said. "You just can't catch up if you fall behind hundreds of millions in a market like ours."
With several new stadiums either under construction (Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tennessee) or about to be constructed (Chicago), it's worth wondering how long Lambeau can maintain viability. While the Packers continue to invest in and expand the stadium, the current construction dates to 2003. When the newest round of stadiums open, nearly half of the league's venues will have been built since 2003.
"We did a study of the skeleton, the steel of it, some years ago and we know that it is good for at least the next 50 years," Policy said, "and probably much longer than that."
Quick hits
Gutekunst claimed he had planned to keep defensive end Rashan Gary -- although he did not say whether he would have asked him to take a pay cut from $18 million -- before the Cowboys offered a fourth-round pick to complete the trade. "We weren't going to move on from him unless we could get something that made sense for us," Gutekunst said.
Policy said one his goals as team president is for the Packers to "have more influence at the league level." To that end, he said Gutekunst has been appointed to the GMAC, which is the general managers advisory committee, and LaFleur will serve on a head coaches' sub-committee. Policy said the Packers have never had representatives on either committee.