Here’s Big Clue About Matt LaFleur’s Expected Extension With Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The “expectation” is the Green Bay Packers will be finalizing contract extensions with coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reported on Saturday.

The Green Bay Packers are working to bring back HC Matt LaFleur and GM Brian Gutekunst, each of whom is headed into the last year of his current deal, and the expectation is that there will be contract extensions for both, league sources told ESPN.https://t.co/qrDs5haAep
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2026

While the Packers lost in an epic playoff collapse against Chicago last week, this has been the direction all along.

On Friday, Packers On SI reached out to sources close to two of the top head-coach candidates in this cycle, one a veteran and one an up-and-comer. Both said the Packers did not reach out to gauge their interest in the position.

That’s significant. It’s impossible to believe that the Packers’ new president, Ed Policy, wouldn’t have a Plan B in mind if he either planned on moving on from LaFleur or was at least hedging his bets.

On Friday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein reported that Policy, Gutekunst and LaFleur were spotted at The American Club in Kohler.

Ed Policy-Matt LaFleur Packers negotiations continue without sign of hard feelings https://t.co/KiYZFumTis via @journalsentinel
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) January 17, 2026

LaFleur and Gutekunst are entering their final year under contract, and Policy has said he’d prefer to not have either entering a lame-duck season.

A lame-duck season would be incredibly difficult for LaFleur, who is going to have to make changes to his coaching staff. For instance, how would he be able to lure the best candidate to potentially replace defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley if he had just one season remaining on his contract?

Gutekunst’s future has never really been in doubt. He’s built a consistent winner and successfully navigated the transition from Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love in terms of talent and the salary-cap gymnastics necessary to get out of Rodgers’ contract.

LaFleur’s future, at least from the outside, seemed more tenuous. However, he’s also been a consistent winner. Hired in 2019, he’s been the team’s coach for seven seasons. Six of those ended in the playoffs.

LaFleur has posted a regular-season record of 76-40-1. That is a .654 winning percentage, which ranks 16th out of 207 coaches in NFL history to lead at least 50 games. Of the coaches ahead of him, nine are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The day after the game, LaFleur was focusing on next season and not his future.

“We all know what type of business this is, and the focus for me was, at least today, to take a look at the tape and try to figure out why and what went wrong,” LaFleur said. “So, that’s where all my focus has lied. And then you, in that process, you start thinking about, all right, what are the things that we need to do to get better? So that’s just where I’ve put all my mental energy.”

As players cleaned out their lockers on Monday, they had their coach’s back. And while that could be construed as players wanting to stay in the good graces of LaFleur if he returned, the support ran deeper than mere lip service.

“He’s still a good-ass coach,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “He’s a player’s coach. We all have really good relationships with him. I think we’ve all built that even from the time before I got here. I know everybody had a good relationship with him. And then once I got here, I know we got super-tight. I feel like he prepares us the right way. He comes in with the right mentality every single week.

“And he always has a good plan. Sometimes, it don’t work out perfectly or the way we always want it to work out. But I think, from a head-coaching standpoint, from him to us, he puts us in a good spot to be able to go out there and be victorious every week. That’s all we could really ask for from a player standpoint. So, that’s why I feel like he should still be the head coach.”

Perhaps LaFleur is getting some grace from Policy due to the onslaught of key injuries. Their best playmaker on offense, Tucker Kraft, and their best player on defense, Micah Parsons, suffered torn ACLs.

The Packers at least partially recovered from Kraft’s injury. They had won four in a row to improve to 9-3-1 before playing at Denver. Parsons was injured in that game, and the Packers didn’t win again.

With their top players, the Packers might have been a Super Bowl team.

“I think so,” McKinney said. “I don’t want to use that as an excuse and say, ‘Yeah, well, if we had these guys, we could’ve …’ But, at the same time, obviously these guys, if they’re out, if it affects our team, you know? Because they’re a big part of what we do and our scheme, both offensively and defensively. But yeah, for sure, if we have our guys and everybody’s 100 percent, I think we’re in a better spot.”

Time isn’t of the essence, though it’s at least getting close. If Hafley gets a head-coaching job, as is the expectation, LaFleur will need to hire a defensive coordinator. He could promote defensive line Demarcus Covington, though he’s also up for a couple of coordinator jobs.

He might be pondering other changes to the staff, as well. The sooner there’s some certainty regarding his contract, he can get to work on reshaping the Packers for 2026 and beyond.

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