Packers GM admits ‘subterfuge’ in some pre-draft visits

The period of time before the NFL Draft can be a chaotic one. A lot of the rumors that make their way into the public sphere can turn out to be pretty inaccurate.

It turns out that at least one team is happy to feed those rumors. According to Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, his team’s pre-draft interview subjects fell into three categories: players who they needed medical evaluations on, players they wanted more information on, and subterfuge.

Gutekunst said some of their top-30 visits were dedicated to players who needed medical evaluations because they weren't at the combine. Another group consisted of players they needed more information about after pro days. And the third group, he says, was subterfuge. #Packers

— Michael Cohen (@Michael_Cohen13) April 22, 2019

In other words, the Packers brought in some players with the express purpose of throwing everyone else off. Perhaps it’s worth taking stories coming out of Green Bay with a grain of salt. It’s worth keeping in mind that they’re probably not the only team doing this, and a fair few junk rumors have probably been generated in the same way, in addition to agents leaking things on background to try to influence other teams.