Report: Packers' Gutekunst the latest exec to back out of 49ers' GM search

Yet another top candidate is taking a pass on the San Francisco 49ers' general manager vacancy.

Packers executive Brian Gutekunst, who recent reports suggested was a heavy favorite to come aboard along with soon-to-be head coach Kyle Shanahan, has decided to to remain in Green Bay, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

As the organization did when Eliot Wolf bowed out of the running days earlier, the Packers have given Gutekunst a new contract, Schefter adds.

The 49ers may simply be running into some bad luck with top candidates electing to stick with their current teams. Gutekunst, Wolf, and Seattle Seahawks executive Trent Kirchner are in favorable situations atop a pair of the league's most stable organizations, and there's reason to believe that each will have numerous opportunities to become general managers in the years to come.

But the supposed front-runner removing himself from consideration this late in the process will only add to the rumblings that top jobs in San Francisco aren't all that attractive given the team's recent history of dysfunction.

With Gutekunst opting to stay in Green Bay, NFL Network's Mike Silver suggests Minnesota Vikings executive George Paton could now be the top choice for the 49ers job.