Packers won't extend Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst yet, so is '25 a make-or-break season?
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst each have two years remaining on their contracts.
Incoming team president Ed Policy told local beat writers on Friday that he's not extending either of them entering the season (which is not unusual around the league with two years remaining) and is 'generally opposed' to the head coach and general manager working with just one year remaining on their deals.
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'That creates a lot of issues,' said Policy, who will officially take over as Packers president and CEO on July 25 after Mark Murphy reaches his mandatory retirement age of 70 next month.
'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,' Policy continued. 'But it creates a lot of issues because they also have to hire a staff … 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.'
In other words, the Packers will likely either extend or fire LaFleur and Gutekunst after this season. This year already carries a heightened sense of urgency for the Packers as they enter Year 3 of the Jordan Love era after an underwhelming season, but now the public knows the head coach and general manager may have even more at stake, too.
Perhaps Policy is leaning toward extending both the head coach of the last six seasons and the general manager of the last seven. Maybe his description of what's on the line this year is dramatic. However, it's also fair to wonder whether the man climbing to the top of the organizational food chain thinks LaFleur and Gutekunst are the right pair to lead the Packers over the hump and win a Super Bowl.
'You've got three exceptional people doing an exceptional job right now and working well together,' Policy said of LaFleur, Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball. 'I feel very good about all three of those individuals. I love them. I trust them. I respect them … I have terrific relationships, both working and personal, with them.'
Policy said he sees his role as president as it relates to football operations, 'as really selecting football leadership, guiding them and giving them all the resources they need and supporting them, evaluating them, and then ultimately holding them accountable.'
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Policy isn't an outsider who's itching to hire his own head coach and general manager, at least it seems. The 54-year-old began his tenure as the Packers' vice president and general counsel 13 years ago and became chief operating officer and general counsel in January 2018. He served on the hiring panels for both LaFleur and Gutekunst, negotiated both of their contracts and knew Gutekunst before his time as general manager.
Still, Policy has to weigh more than personal feelings when evaluating the tandem.
'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?'
Policy also values how the head coach develops his staff and works with the general manager.
'Are they aligned? Are they communicating? That will be a very important thing to evaluate both of them on,' Policy said. '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?'
The CliffsNotes evaluations of Gutekunst and LaFleur are generally positive. The Packers have made the playoffs in five of Gutekunst's seven seasons and five of LaFleur's six (we can debate until the cows come home about the credit distribution between head coach/GM and players like Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Aaron Jones and David Bakhtiari, who predated both). Green Bay had the two youngest playoff teams of the last 45 seasons in 2023 and 2024, which speaks to how the head coach and GM have helped the organization transition into a new chapter.
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Gutekunst has done an admirable job retooling the roster with talented young players in the last several drafts and free agency after the Rodgers era ended. LaFleur is a bright offensive mind with the 13th-highest winning percentage among head coaches in NFL history (.670, 67-33), but he's a head coach who has struggled at times to surround himself with worthwhile coordinators on defense and special teams. Gutekunst is hardly flawless in NFL Drafts, too, especially in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
The Packers figure to make the playoffs for a third consecutive year this season, but what if they go 10-7 or 11-6 again, earn a wild-card berth and lose in the first or second round of the postseason? Might Policy think a change in leadership would get the Packers out of neutral and back to the Super Bowl for the first time since February 2011?
After all, Policy said his primary objective as president is for the Packers to win football games. That requires doing what's best for the team on the field, personal history and feelings be damned.
Doing so could very well mean keeping LaFleur and Gutekunst for the long haul, but we'll have to wait another eight months or so for Policy's first big decision at the helm.
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