As ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported throughout the week, the Green Bay Packers and Matt LaFleur both want to get an extension done to keep LaFleur as the head coach of Green Bay. According to Schefter, the issue is money, which is concerning, considering the team has already been near the lowest-spend clubs in the league for assistants during the LaFleur era, per conversations I’ve had with sources in the agent and coaching worlds (yes, I know they paid Rich Bisaccia, but that does not make an entire
coaching pool).
Now, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is backing Schefter’s reporting, stating that the two sides will talk contract after the year, “with the mutual goal of extending his contract.” Rapoport added, “Yet there is one truth that should not be discounted: LaFleur is not coaching for his job tonight, sources say.”
I was told that an extension for general manager Brian Gutekunst could have gotten done this offseason, but that the Packers wanted to announce extensions for both Gutekunst and LaFleur together. (I could not get information on why Green Bay and LaFleur didn’t have an extension in hand this offseason.)
Here’s how Rapoport explained the situation:
But the entire plan for the Packers had been for the coach’s contract to have two years left when a new CEO took over, so he could process and examine for one entire season and make a full decision when that season ended. That’s why LaFleur’s contract was not touched last summer, and that’s why the time to strike is this offseason.
Green Bay likes LaFleur, respects him and believes he’s a great fit both in the organization and in the community. If everything goes well, the hope is that remains for a long time.
That’s a different spin on the situation than Schefter, who simply stated it was a money dispute. Either way, I fully expect the team to eventually get an extension done for LaFleur, no matter the reasoning for his non-extension so far, because the reporting has all claimed that they want him back. If you want to keep him, you keep him. It’s that simple.
A big first-round playoff loss to a rival Chicago Bears, one that would have to look something like the Baltimore Ravens game in Week 17, might be a needle mover, but it seems like the club has already made its decision about the futures of both LaFleur and Gutekunst. Unless Saturday’s action is a bottom 1 percent outcome for the Packers, I’m going to assume LaFleur will be the coach in 2026 (at minimum).
