In the 1993 offseason, the Packers signed star edge rusher Reggie White to a four-year, $17 million contract. It changed the fortunes of the franchise.
The Packers won the Super Bowl in 1996.
In his six seasons with the Packers, White never had fewer than eight sacks and averaged 11.
The Packers’ trade for star edge rusher Micah Parsons has drawn comparisons, but White was 32 when he arrived in Green Bay. Parsons is 26.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst didn’t arrive in Green Bay until 1999, the year after White retired, but he was asked about the parallels between the team’s acquisitions of generational pass rushers three decades apart.
“I don’t think there’s really any parallels at all,” Gutekunst said Friday, via video from the team. “Again, I wasn’t here, so it’s hard for me really to compare that. A different time. I think the Packers organization was in a different space at that time. So, I can’t really comment on that.
“Micah’s his own man, and he’s going to forge his own path here. But I think he’s going to be a really, really good fit for our locker room, a really good fit for our team. But, yeah, that was a little before me.”
Parsons could be the missing piece for the Packers, though, as White was. They are the only players in NFL history to have at least 12 sacks in each of their first four seasons.
The Packers sent defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks to the Cowboys for Parsons.
“Obviously a player like Micah, he’s very unique and very rare is it that they’re available,” Gutekunst said. “So as this kind of came together, it was just one of those things where it was a unique opportunity to it. It was going to cost. There was going to be some expense to it. But we just kind of thought it was the best thing for our team. We’re excited to get him. We’re excited to get him out there and get him with our team, so he can get up to speed as fast as possible.”
