Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers made a big splash on Day 1 of the legal tampering period, agreeing to deals with guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs. By the end of the first day, they ranked in the top five for free-agent dollars spent—an uncharacteristic move for the Packers. However, with the salary cap rising and a relatively weak free-agent market this year, teams are seemingly having to pay more than usual.

Yet, if you look around the Packers’ fanbase, you’d think they did nothing but sit on their hands because they didn’t address what many consider the team’s biggest roster need: pass rush. Well, I’m here to tell you—it’s not time to panic about that… at least not yet.

As Gutekunst often says, roster building is a 365-day-a-year job, not just a few days in March. This year’s free-agent crop of edge rushers and interior linemen wasn’t exactly stacked with talent just waiting for Green Bay. When Myles Garrett announced in early February that he wanted a trade out of Cleveland, fan bases from all 31 other teams immediately started Photoshopping him into their jerseys. Then the Browns paid him a boatload of money just before free agency, and that dream quickly died. Let’s be honest—the Packers were never going to spend the draft capital necessary to acquire Myles Garrett.

None of the options on the market ever really made much sense, in my opinion. Nobody fit the Packers’ free-agent mold, which they’ve adhered to almost religiously: someone coming off their first contract, still young (25-27), with their best football ahead of them.

Khalil Mack would have been a nice option, but he quickly re-signed with the Los Angeles Chargers, suggesting he never seriously considered testing the market. Plus, he doesn’t fit the Packers’ typical profile. Josh Sweat was another intriguing option—he’ll only be 28 when next season starts. You do have to do a double take when you realize the contract the Packers handed Aaron Banks was actually half a million dollars more than what the Cardinals gave Sweat. But maybe the Packers believe he benefited from playing alongside a stacked defensive line and wouldn’t translate that success to Green Bay. He’s also had mixed results outside of the Super Bowl, which doesn’t quite align with Green Bay’s modus operandi.

The prospect of trading for disgruntled Cincinnati Bengal and 2024 sack leader Trey Hendrickson still exists (as of this writing). However, reports suggest the Bengals want a first-round pick “and more,” and the Packers would need to fork over a massive contract. That doesn’t pass the sniff test for me. Hendrickson would certainly transform their defensive front and could catapult their defense into a top-five unit, but I just don’t see Gutekunst selling the farm for one player.

No, to me, it was always more likely that the Packers would address their 2024 pass-rushing woes through the draft—after all, this is the Packers we’re talking about. Their current roster of edge rushers consists entirely of players they acquired through the draft. With an extra pick to play with, thanks to the compensatory selection they were awarded this week, it’s possible Gutekunst packages a few picks to move up and grab a premium pass rusher. It’s also possible he takes the same approach to pass rushers as he has with safety and wide receiver in past drafts—throw multiple picks at the problem and hope one or more hits right away. Think Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs in 2022 or Evan Williams and Javon Bullard last year. Adding more talent could increase the chances of immediate results rather than shelling out big money for a single player.

Gutekunst also spoke convincingly at the end of the season about his belief that the Packers already have the talent up front to affect the quarterback. He said, “There were times that we showed it, so I know it’s capable. I think we’ve got the right guys. They’re workers in there.” If he truly believes that, he may simply be banking on a coaching change—bringing in defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, the former Patriots defensive coordinator, to coach them up more effectively than last year’s Jason Rebrovich did.

He could also be counting on a second-year jump from players adjusting to Jeff Hafley’s scheme. After three years of playing a very different style of defense under Joe Barry, perhaps Gutekunst is giving them some grace to find their footing. Or maybe he has something up his sleeve that will shock us all, and we’ll feel silly for assuming he was just sitting on his hands all offseason.

Whatever the case may be, it’s not time for Packers fans to start wringing their hands just yet. We have six months before the Green and Gold take the field again. Come mid-season if the pass rush is performing the same way as it did large stretches of last season, then we can panic. For the time being its has to be in Gutey we  trust.