Packers in it to win it despite trade deadline moves, says GM

The Green Bay Packers unloaded a pair of veterans at the trade deadline, but that doesn't mean the team is pessimistic about their chances to compete for Super Bowl LIII.

"I don't necessarily think there's a message it sends to the locker room," first-year general manager Brian Gutekunst said Wednesday, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "I think the decisions that we make are always in the best interest of our team, not only in the short term, but the long term, as well. But I think our locker room knows where we're headed and, like I said, I think we're humming at the right time and I think there's a lot of positive things going forward."

The Packers were active 24 hours earlier, shipping safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins and running back Ty Montgomery to the Baltimore Ravens. The deals netted Green Bay two future draft picks. Gutekunst and his staff refrained from making any additions.

Clinton-Dix is slated to hit free agency after the season, and the Packers weren't going to re-sign him. Montgomery, on the other hand, was criticized by some of his teammates after his fumble on Sunday cost the Packers a chance to defeat the Los Angeles Rams.

"I think you take everything into consideration when you make these kind of decisions, but performance comes first," Gutekunst said. "That's always the major factor in these decisions. Everything's taken into account, but it's never usually just one thing."

The Packers are 3-3-1 and sit third in the NFC North heading into their Week 9 date with the New England Patriots.

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