Acme Packing Company
It appears that the position of the Green Bay Packers’ leadership on head coach Matt LaFleur has remained unchanged after Saturday’s devastating Wild Card loss to the Chicago Bears. Going into the weekend, reporting indicated that the team planned to try to bring LaFleur back for 2026 (at least), and that appears to still be the case.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Packers still plan to extend LaFleur’s contract to retain him for at least one more season:
In parsing the phrasing of that report, however, there are some intriguing details to break down. Ultimately, there remains plenty of uncertainty here — the terms “expected” and “try to work out” certainly indicate that there is no deal yet and that LaFleur’s return is not a guarantee.
Heading into the weekend, the word on the street was that money was the sticking point for the two sides. That will surely be one of the points of discussion in contract talks that appear to be upcoming in the next few days.
However, the length of an extension may also be a significant area of difference between the two sides. Given the team’s salary cap and roster situation, the organization may want to run things back with LaFleur for 2026 only and revisit the situation again next offseason. In that case, a one-year extension would be the team’s best option, as it would avoid LaFleur operating as a lame duck, while not committing to pay him long-term if they want next year to be a prove-it season.
Would LaFleur accept such a deal? It is reasonable to think that he could make a hard push for a longer term. Given a dearth of high-level offensive-minded head coaching candidates this offseason and numerous job openings, he would surely find an appealing job quickly in the current market if the Packers let him go. He could use all of that as leverage to push hard for a longer-term contract. However, the Packers’ playoff performances under LaFleur and the team’s inability to close out games throughout the 2025 season take away a good bit of that leverage.
It’s not exactly clear what a compromise position would be. Adding two years to LaFleur’s deal — to make it run through 2028 — would mean the Packers would have to buy out both of those years if they decide to make a change next offseason. A better financial situation for LaFleur, personally, might be to move on now and cash in with a big long-term contract elsewhere.
If the two sides do come to an agreement, a shakeup of the rest of the coaching staff feels overdue, and it could be something that Policy mandates of LaFleur. The franchise’s approach has long been to keep coaching staff salaries to a minimum; perhaps a shift in leadership from Mark Murphy to Ed Policy could loosen those purse strings.
Unfortunately, it seems that Packers fans will not have clarity on LaFleur’s future for at least a few more days....
