How Playoff Game vs. Bears Impacts Matt LaFleur Contract Talks With Packers

LaFleur’s situation with Green Bay has been a subject of speculation as he enters the postseason without a contract beyond 2026–27.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur is not in jeopardy of losing his job ahead of Green Bay’s playoff game against the rival Bears, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As the NFL’s coaching carousel takes shape, there has been significant speculation that one of the league’s most success sitting coaches could enter it, should his team flame out early in the postseason: Packers coach Matt LaFleur.

LaFleur (and general manager Brian Gutekunst) are both set to enter the final year of their contracts in 2026, and given that working as a lame duck is generally considered an untenable situation, it seems reasonable that both will either be extended or shown the door following the season.

Orr: Ranking Every 2026 NFL Coaching Vacancy, From Best to Worst

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the situation for LaFleur is straightforward: He is not coaching for his job on Saturday in the wild-card round against the rival Bears, and the team will discuss extensions with LaFleur after the season ends.

From @NFLGameDay Morning: #Packers coach Matt LaFleur is not coaching for his job. The latest on LaFleur’s future, plus how the #Rams avoided any drama with Matthew Stafford this offseason. pic.twitter.com/79HTZbRsTD

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2026

“My understanding, Matt LaFleur, one of the best coaches in the NFL, not coaching for his job today,” Rapoport reported on NFL GameDay Saturday. “He’s not going to be judged by the next four quarters. Instead, the Packers, led by CEO Ed Policy, who by the way has worked with LaFleur for the last seven years, plans to meet with LaFleur shortly after the season to work on a new contract extension. My understanding is the hope for both sides is to remain together for the long term.”

The No. 7-seed Packers travel to face the No. 2 Bears at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night, a rubber match for the season series between the fierce NFC North rivals.

Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark. FREE NEWSLETTER. SI BTN Newsletter

New Packers CEO Ed Policy put pressure on LaFleur and Gutekunst last offseason

Ed Policy took over as Packers president and CEO over the summer. / Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Policy stepped into the CEO role during the summer, replacing longtime Green Bay executive Mark Murphy, who retired shortly after turning 70, as dictated by franchise bylaws. Policy, who had served as Packers COO and general counsel, didn’t waste much time, addressing LaFleur and Gutekunst’s job statuses weeks before taking over the lead job.

"I'm generally opposed—I'd never say never—[but] I'm generally opposed to a coach or GM going into the last year of their contract," Policy said at the time. "That creates a lot of issues. I think normally you have a pretty good idea of where that relationship is going when you have two years left—not always, but normally.

"So I think generally speaking I would avoid lame-duck status. It's oftentimes difficult on everybody involved. But there are certain situations that probably call for it, so I would not say never."

Policy added what he specifically looks for in making a decision on a coach, and addressed his relationship with, and between, his current coach and GM.

“With head coaches, it starts with wins and losses, but that’s a little too simple of an answer for this,” Policy said. “It can’t end with that. At the end of the day, we are here to win football games, so it does start with that. But coaches are fundamentally teachers, I think. They develop people, so you evaluate them on how they’re developing people. First, with the players, are they developing players individually? Are players getting better? … And then, are they improving as a team? What’s the locker room culture like? Is it cohesive? And is it one team or is it a bunch of individuals?

“... Are [LaFleur and Gutekunst] aligned? Are they communicating? That will be a very important thing to evaluate both of them on. With the GM, again, it’s always going to be, are they performing and meeting their goals? Is their behavior and their conduct really aligned with our culture and our values? And then just, are their draft picks and their free agents—it probably takes a little while to determine this, it probably takes at least three years or so to really figure this out—but are they building a winning roster? Are they bringing in the right kind of people for our system and for the coach and the right kind of character people?”

Policy was complimentary of both LaFleur and Gutekunst but stopped well short of committing to either one as the long-term answer ahead of the season. After another playoff berth despite significant injury issues in 2025, it appears that LaFleur has at least done enough to secure his status.

Packers’ 2025 season

Green Bay began the season with a bang after making the seismic trade for Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons, one of the NFL’s most explosive defensive players. It showed right away, as the Packers downed the rival Lions—one of the NFC’s best teams in 2024—and the Commanders to begin the season. Green Bay hit a snag in late September, losing to the lowly Browns and tying the Cowboys in a wild 40–40 game, but recovered to win three straight games in October.

LaFleur’s offense faltered in early November, scoring just 20 total points in back-to-back losses to the Panthers and Eagles, but recovered for four solid performances in consecutive wins against the Giants, Vikings, Lions and Bears. At 9-3-1, the Packers remained in the mix to earn a top seed in the NFC, but December was not kind to Green Bay.

Parsons tore his ACL in a loss at the Broncos in Week 15. The following week, Love suffered a concussion against the Bears in a vital game for the NFC North title. The Packers seemed primed to win behind a solid performance by backup Malik Willis, but a bobbled onside kick and Caleb Williams Hail Mary cost Green Bay the game in overtime. A banged up Willis couldn’t lead the Packers to a win against the Ravens in Week 17, but a Vikings win over the Lions on Christmas clinched them a wild-card spot, so they punted on Week 18 in Minnesota, keeping both Love and Willis on the bench.

As such, Green Bay fell from 9-3-1 to 9-7-1 with four straight losses to end the season, and will face a Bears team they beat once and were on the verge of beating a second time to open the playoffs.

Matt LaFleur’s record with the Packers

LaFleur has been one of the NFL’s most consistent coaches since landing his first head coaching job with Green Bay in 2019. He helped turn around an offense that had grown stale under former coach Mike McCarthy, leading the Packers to consecutive NFC championship game appearances in 2019 and ‘20—his first two seasons with the franchise—and helping Aaron Rodgers win back-to-back MVP awards in ’20 and ‘21.

Following Rodgers’s departure after a disappointing 2022 season, the only under LaFleur in which Green Bay has missed the playoffs, Jordan Love has stepped into the starting job. While he hasn’t reached the heights of his predecessors Rodgers and Brett Favre just yet, he does look like one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks when at his best. Getting more consistency out of Love, and leading the Packers back to deep playoff runs, will be key moving forward, but based on Rapoport’s report, it appears that he will have the chance.

LaFleur is 76-40-1 in seven seasons with Green Bay, with a 3-5 mark in the plaoffs.

Season	Record	Playoffs
2019	13–3	NFC championship loss
2020	13–3	NFC championship loss
2021	13–4	NFC divisional round loss
2022	8–9	Missed playoffs
2023	9–8	NFC divisional round loss
2024	11–6	NFC wild-card loss
2025	9-7-1	TBD

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed