It would have been difficult for the Green Bay Packers to find a general manager less willing to use free agency than Ted Thompson, who stepped down from the post last week.

In Brian Gutekunst, the Packers now have a general manager expected to operate more like his colleagues running teams around the league than Thompson.

One agent told Rob Demovsky of ESPN that he believes Gutekunst will be the next John Schneider, who has used an aggressive, no-stone-left-unturned approach to building the Seattle Seahawks into an annual title contender.

Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com reported Gutekunst is expected to be “more aggressive” in free agency.

Schneider, John Dorsey and Reggie McKenzie all came from the Ron Wolf scouting tree and worked under Thompson, who often avoided free agency like the plague. None of the three general managers operate exactly like Thompson. In fact, all three have used a player acquisition strategy that has foundations in draft and develop but also sprinkles in free agency and trades when necessary.

Gutekunst grew up in personnel on the college side, starting as a regional scout and later advancing to director of college scouting. He’s almost certain to focus his energy on picking the right players in the draft using Wolf’s tried and true evaluation systems, and he’ll have Thompson around in a senior advisory role to help in that area.

However, the modern NFL and its ballooning salary cap structure begs for teams to supplement the roster with free agency and all other kinds of acquisition avenues. At his season-ending press conference, coach Mike McCarthy all but pleaded with team president Mark Murphy to hire a general manager willing to use all avenues.

McCarthy should have his wish in Gutekunst.

The new plan with Gutekunst in charge won’t take long to be revealed. The Packers have big decisions to make right away, and the start of free agency is only about two months away. Gutekunst will have his chance to shape the Packers roster in his own image pretty much right away, and with whatever resources he’d like to use or not use. Murphy has provided him full control of football operations in Green Bay. Gutekunst is running the show now, and he’s expected to be more like his aggressive former colleagues than the man who will now advise him in a senior role.