ORLANDO, Fla. -- If team president/CEO Mark Murphy had wanted to interfere with a football decision as part of his increased involvement in that part of the Green Bay Packers' operation, then first-year general manager Brian Gutekunst's move to release popular veteran wide receiver Jordy Nelson would have been a good time to meddle.
At least from a business perspective.
After all, not only was Nelson's No. 87 jersey a top seller in the team's pro shop, he was very active in the Green Bay community and in various local charitable causes. Plus, he was also the face of an advertising campaign for Bellin Health's Titletown Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Clinic, which is part of the Packers' new mixed-use development across the street from Lambeau Field.
The story of Nelson's return from his major knee injury in 2015 -- he caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and an NFL-high 14 touchdowns and won the league's comeback player of the year award in 2016 -- was the centerpiece of the new facility's branding when it launched, and last week, the health-care company announced that it was keeping Nelson as a spokesman, even though he now plays for the Oakland Raiders.
“[With] Jordy, what we have tried to do over the years is provide the resources to football so they can make decisions based on football, not business matters,” Murphy said during a break at the NFL owners meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes resort. “That cuts both ways. If you think you need the money and we have it to sign somebody, you can do it. But also, I'm not going to say you can't release somebody because he's really popular in the community.”
Or because he's linked to one of the team's most significant business partners. But given how Murphy said in January that he planned to be more involved in football operations, there was reason to wonder what impact that might have.
When Murphy named Gutekunst the team's general manager, he also announced a new power structure in which Gutekunst, executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball and head coach Mike McCarthy would all report directly to him as the team president.
That was a departure from the structure in place under previous general managers Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson, who oversaw the entire football operation and held the power to hire and fire the head coach. It also meant that Ball, who serves as the team's chief contract negotiator and salary-cap manager, would also report to Murphy instead of the GM. Murphy said the change in structure was necessary because under Thompson, “silos” had been created where various parts of the operation weren't communicating as they should have been.
When asked at the time of the announcement what his meetings with McCarthy would entail, Murphy initially misspoke and said he'd be discussing “game plans” with the coach. In reality, Murphy has been more of a conversation facilitator, he said.
“Obviously, I think anybody who is in a position like mine, you hire really good people and you allow them to do their job,” Murphy said. “When doing their job requires working well together with others, [you're] making sure that that's occurring.”
Murphy said that during the first two weeks of free agency, he was in Gutekunst's and Ball's offices “more than I would have been in the past,” a result of “just keeping in touch” with them on what was happening. The Packers have been busy this offseason, having traded 2015 first-round draft pick Damarious Randall to the Cleveland Browns for backup quarterback DeShone Kizer; signed five-time Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham and ex-New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson in free agency; allowed veteran safety Morgan Burnett to leave for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent; signed transition-tagged Chicago Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller to an offer sheet that their NFC North rivals ended up matching; and severed ties with Nelson.
“At the end of the day, it's really Brian's call. He's really worked closely with Russ,” Murphy said. “There's so many different factors.”
Editor's note: Jason Wilde covers the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Wisconsin and is the co-host of Wilde & Tausch with former Packers offensive lineman Mark Tauscher.