Friday Cheese Curds: Brian Gutekunst can’t wait to get day 2 underway
The first day of the NFL Draft is a long day when you know you’re not going to be making a first-round pick.
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 25: Green Bay Packers fans cheer during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on April 25, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images) | Getty Images For the first time since the NFL Draft went to its current three-day format, the Green Bay Packers went into the event without a first-round pick. That made for a long wait for general manager Brian Gutekunst and the team’s front office — not to mention Packers fans — but that wait will finally end this evening in the second round.
This year was the first in 40 years that the Packers came in without a first-rounder, but back in 1986, the draft was still two days long and the first day featured three rounds. So the Packers still made picks that day. Since the move to a three-day event in 2010, Green Bay has only gone without a first-rounder once (2017), but they were at least on the clock at one point and ended up trading back out.
So yes, Thursday night was weird. But now the fun begins. The strength of this draft appears to be in the depth of players with day-two grades, and the Packers are in position to make a pair of selections on Friday with the 52nd and 84th picks.
As you’ll see (or hear) in today’s Cheese Curds, the board actually seems set up pretty well for Green Bay to get a quality player who can contribute early at a critical position. Check out the news this morning below and bring it back here around 6 PM Central Time as the second round gets going! Board holds strong for Packers at CB and DL entering Day 2 of 2026 draft | Packers Wire Thursday night did go pretty well for the Packers, with few realistic targets coming off the board.