Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst sat down with members of local media on Tuesday while at the NFL Scouting Combine.

He touched on a variety of topics, including Rich Bisaccia's surprise decision to step down as special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. That was big news. The Packers were basically caught between a rock and a hard place by Bisaccia's resignation, and they didn't see it coming. 

Another topic that's going to start making its way across Packer Nation like wildfire is Gutekunst's thoughts on pass-rusher Rashan Gary.

Gary has been tabbed as a shoo-in to be cut this offseason because of his drop in production, as well as the $18 million in base salary and $28 million cap hit he's going to represent in 2026.

Gary finished the season with just 7.5 sacks and he didn't notch a single sack over the last 10 games, including the playoffs.

He was a dissapointment both considering the money the Packers have paid him as well as his draft slot (No. 12 overall in 2019).

With that said, surprisingly, Gutekunst did speak about Gary as if the Packers are expecting him back in  2026. 

"Sometimes, there is an ebb and flow with production with sacks," Gutekunst said, according to Zach Kruse of Packers Wire. "He was impactful towards the second half of the season. Maybe not as much as the first, but he was impactful. Rashan has all the talent in the world. And he's produced at a high level for us since he's been here. We would expect that next year as well."

Gary has been with the Packers for seven seasons now. His high-water mark for sacks was 9.5 in 2021, but he's tallied just 7.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, and he's averaged 6.64 sacks per season.

That's alright production from a role player or a mid-round pick, but it's abysmal production from a former first-round pick and a player who is expected to have the second-highest cap hit on the team next season behind only Jordan Love.

That's just not acceptable, and it's not sustainable, so if Gutekunst and the Packers are going to bring Gary back, you can almost guarantee they'll find a way out of that high cap number.

They could restructure Gary's deal by converting salary into a signing bonus, but that would still be paying him a ton of money despite the fact that he has not produced. 

They could ask him to take a pay cut, which he wouldn't have to do, but it could keep him employed in Green Bay through the end of the 2027 season -- when his current deal ends.

The smartest move would be cutting Gary before June 1 and taking the nearly $11 million in savings. If they want him back in 2026, they could cut him and then re-sign him, though it's worth noting that at that juncture, he just may decide to try the open market.

With all that in mind, the only way forward that makes any sense here for the Packers is a pay cut. In fact, it's the only responsible and reasonable option, because Gary can't come back with a nearly $30 million cap hit next season.

This situation isn't ideal, but it's the mess that Gutekunst got himself in when he reached for a raw player with unrealized upside at No. 12 in the draft.

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