GREEN BAY — When the NFL’s free-agency pool opened on March 11, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst cannonballed right in.

He struck a massive deal with ex-New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney, paying him handsomely to be the centerpiece of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s system with a four-year, $67 million deal.

Then he swapped out popular-but-aging starting running back Aaron Jones in favor of ex-Las Vegas Raiders star Josh Jacobs, who led the NFL in rushing in 2022 and who, at 26, is three years younger than Jones. Jacobs got a four-year, $48 million deal that will pay him $14.8 million in 2024.

But since then?

Not even a ripple in the free-agent waters, beyond the retention of several key role players.

The Packers’ biggest signing after McKinney and Jacobs was bringing back All-Pro kick returner and nickel cornerback Keisean Nixon, who signed a three-year, $18 million deal. They also re-signed No. 2 running back AJ Dillon and key special-teams contributors/occasional starters Corey Ballentine, Tyler Davis, Eric Wilson and Robert Rochell.

At the same time, they let safeties Darnell Savage (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Jonathan Owens (Chicago Bears), starting right guard Jon Runyan (Giants) and swing tackle Yosh Nijman (Carolina Panthers) all walk as free agents while releasing Jones (Minnesota Vikings) and five-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, who continues to work his way back from his catastrophic knee injury.

But during a time when good players are there for the taking at bargain prices, Gutekunst has eschewed the low-cost opportunities on the open market so far — even with some roster holes still visible, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

There may be a simple reason for that: Gutekunst — despite a glowing track record of finding hidden, inexpensive gems (Nixon, De’Vondre Campbell, Owens, Rasul Douglas) in recent years — had so much success with his restock-through-the-draft approach on the offensive side of the ball last year, that he sounds like he’ll try to do the same defensively this offseason.

“Draft and develop is the core of what we believe in. And it always will be. I think that’s the best way to build a team,” Gutekunst explained in advance of the annual NFL Meetings, which kicked off Sunday in Orlando, Florida. “Every avenue to acquire players that’ll help your football team is going to be a part of how we go about it. (But) we have a lot of guys and very excited about where they’re going.”

With 11 total selections in next month’s NFL Draft, including five in the first 91 picks on the first two days (a first-rounder, two second-rounders and two third-rounders), Gutekunst has ample ammunition if he wants to replenish the defensive depth chart as he did with the offense in last year’s draft, when he surrounded first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love with three wide receivers (Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Grant DuBose, plus undrafted free agent Malik Heath) and two tight ends (Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft). All but DuBose, who spent the season on the practice squad, played meaningful snaps as rookies during the 2023 season.

Despite the draft-and-develop approach that Gutekunst has largely followed after taking over for his mentor and predecessor, Ted Thompson, 2023 was an outlier in that the team played that many young players immediately. Thompson often said during his 13-year tenure as GM that the team’s veterans would be the core players who would decide the Packers’ success; rookies generally got opportunities through injuries or ineffective play ahead of them on the depth chart.

“They just had a lot more opportunity than maybe these guys have had (previously), and they capitalized on it. And that’s a credit to them,” Gutekunst said of last year’s rookie class. “But that’s always going to be the foundation of how we build football teams around here — the draft and develop. I think that’s really important that we’re committed to that.”

Gutekunst did take several defensive players in last year’s draft, with first-round pick/outside linebacker Lukas Van Ness, defensive linemen Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden, cornerback Carrington Valentine and safety Anthony Johnson all seeing extended playing time. Valentine, a seventh-round pick from Kentucky, was a particularly pleasant surprise, starting 12 games at a cornerback position that was in upheaval because of injuries (Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes), trade (Douglas) and extenuating circumstances (Alexander’s one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team).

With glaring needs at linebacker — where former All-Pro Campbell was released in a cost-cutting move and subsequently went on a social media screed — and in the secondary, Gutekunst seemingly feels that he can replenish the defensive depth chart through the draft. And if he hits for a high batting average like he did with last year’s picks, he should succeed.

What Gutekunst emphasized multiple times earlier this offseason was how the competitive battles at various positions accelerated players’ improvement and sense of urgency. The lone exception was with rookie placekicker Anders Carlson, who never faced in-person competition as a rookie sixth-round pick — and Gutekunst acknowledged after Carlson’s up-and-down 2023 that he’ll face competition this time around.

“That’s our job, to continue to infuse talent into this roster and make it competitive. I just think probably more so than in a while, we were giving opportunities to young, talented players, which really held,” Gutekunst said. “Everybody would like guys with experience, but I think hopefully over the past few years people will realize that sometimes it’s not always the wisest thing to do. Sometimes, it’s better to be young and let these guys grow together.”

To that end, don’t be surprised if Gutekunst picks multiple players at a few defensive spots while adding much-needed depth on the offensive line (where the team lost Bakhtiari, Runyan and Nijman) and at running back (where only Dillon and Emanuel Wilson, an undrafted rookie free agent last season, are behind Jacobs).

“Since Ted was here and I’ve been here, we’ve doubled up at times at positions. I think that’s not a bad way to go about things because of the competition it creates,” Gutekunst said. “I’m a big player development guy; I think guys need to play to develop.

“I think the one thing that really came out of this season, that was evident, was that the competition within the rooms allowed us to grow and grow at maybe an accelerated pace. I think that’s the biggest thing as we get into the very beginning stages of building this team and this team working together, is having enough competition in all phases so that growth can be accelerated.

“What we were doing with our football team allowed for a lot of that opportunity. Again, it’s a credit to those guys for seizing that opportunity and doing what they did. You’d like to think it’ll be tougher this year with all those guys coming back and (getting) the opportunities will be tougher, but I do think, organizationally, (there was) just an overall belief of, ‘Hey, (let’s) not be afraid to give guys opportunities and allowing that competition to take place.’”