Why The Green Bay Packers Won Day 1 Of The NFL Draft
The Green Bay Packers were big winners during Thursday's NFL Draft, even though they didn't have a first round pick.
The Green Bay Packers traded their 2026 and 2027 first round draft picks for defensive end Micah Parsons. Getty Images Malachi Lawrence might become a great edge rusher for the Dallas Cowboys. Makai Lemon could develop into an elite receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.
And there’s a chance NFC North foes like Detroit (offensive tackle Blake Miller), Minnesota (defensive tackle Caleb Banks) and Chicago (safety Dillon Thieneman) found themselves future standouts. Those are all ifs, maybes, question marks. Green Bay Packers edge Micah Parsons is one of the top-three defensive players in football.
That’s an absolute. So while it was pained Brian Gutekunst to not have a first round pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft, Green Bay’s general manager knew he’d already won the draft. “We got better,” Gutekunst said.
“With this particular pick, we got better a whole year earlier. ” Eight months ago, Gutekunst traded his 2026 and 2027 first round draft picks, as well as defensive tackle Kenny Clark, to Dallas for Parsons. That pick wound up being No.