Packers will evaluate top draft prospects, even though their first pick is No. 52 overall

The Packers don't have a first-round pick, but that doesn't mean they won't be evaluating first-round prospects at the Scouting Combine.

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said the Packers won't ignore the top players they know will be gone before their own first pick, which is No. 52 overall after they sent their first-round pick to the Cowboys in the Micah Parsons trade.

"It's important that we don’t skip any of those steps," Gutekunst said, via Packers.com. "Getting to know these players inside and out, whether it be for this draft or going into free agency and their professional career is really, really important for us. So the groundwork that our scouts do on these players in college really does carry over quite a bit into our pro scouting staff and how we look at these players."

The Packers made a win-now move when they traded for Parsons, and Gutekunst said they're still in win-now mode. As an example of that, Gutekunst said they're ready, willing and able to make moves in free agency even if that potentially costs them compensatory picks next year.

"It's about winning now," he said. "If there's players who we can sign that give us the opportunity to win now more so than holding out for a compensatory pick in 2027, that's the decision we're going to make. It's a factor, but the most important thing is our ability to win in 2026."