Pro Football Rumors
With the Packers’ season now over, attention will turn to the future of their coaching staff. Head coach Matt LaFleur is currently under contract for one more season, but that could change very soon.
Leading up to Green Bay’s wild-card game on Saturday, it was reported LaFleur was not coaching for his job and that extension talks would occur after the season ended. To no surprise, then, the seven-year HC said yesterday that he and president Ed Policy spoke briefly with one another after the Packers’ loss to the Bears. He added further talks would be coming shortly, and that is indeed the case.
Efforts will be made to work out a new LaFleur contract over the coming days, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. He adds the sides are expected to reach an agreement. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network also anticipates a deal being struck (video link). Policy is known to prefer coaches and GMs not operating in a lame-duck situation, so the status of general manager Brian Gutekunst – also under contract through 2026 – will be worth watching. It was reported yesterday that LaFleur and Gutekunst are not a package deal.
That leaves the door open to a number of possibilities in the Packers’ case. The team reeled off three straight 13-win campaigns at the beginning of LaFleur’s tenure. That was followed by an 8-9 season and the transition to Jordan Love at quarterback. Green Bay has reached the playoffs in each of Love’s three seasons as QB1; the Packers have just one postseason victory during that span, however. Overall, LaFleur has a regular-season winning percentage of .654 but a playoff record of 3-6.
“I mean, this is one of one,” the 46-year-old said of his desire to remain in Green Bay (via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette). “I love this place… I love our players, the locker room, everybody in our organization. I mean, this is a unique place. The community has been outstanding.”
There are currently eight head coaching vacancies around the NFL. LaFleur would join John Harbaugh as one of the top candidates on the market in the event of a firing, and Rapoport confirms teams are monitoring his situation. A dismissal would come as a surprise at this point, however. Talks producing a new agreement appears to be a far likelier outcome with negotiations set to take place.
