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Washington Post
10 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Ed Policy believes his family background will help him in his new role as Packers' president/CEO
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ed Policy got a keen understanding about the realities of his dream occupation while growing up in a football family. Now that he's about to take over as the president/CEO of the Green Bay Packers, Policy gets to put into practice the lessons he learned as the son of former San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns president Carmen Policy. 'It was an incredible education,' Policy said. 'We talked about the NFL and the business of the NFL and pro football every night at the dinner table.' Policy experienced the joy of Super Bowl championships and the adversity that came when his father made difficult decisions such as trading Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The training continued as Policy spent the past 13 years in Green Bay while the Packers continued succeeding after the 2023 trade of four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Now it's his turn to make the tough calls. Policy, 54, assumes his new role July 25 when the Packers hold their annual shareholders meeting. He was recommended by a search committee and unanimously selected by the Packers' board of directors to take over for Mark Murphy, who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 next month. Murphy had held this position since 2008. Don't expect this transition to result in major changes. 'We both approach the importance of this job and especially the stewardship nature of this job — we take that very importantly — so I think you'll see a lot more similarities than differences,' Policy said. 'Obviously we're slightly different generations, different communication styles. We're different people. But I don't think there are going to be any real glaring differences.' Policy, a former Arena Football League commissioner, president and CEO, joined the Packers as vice president and general counsel in August 2012 and was promoted to chief operating officer in January 2018. In Policy's new role, Packers coach Matt LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball will report to him. Policy says all three of them have multiple years left in their contracts, though he wouldn't specify beyond that. Policy said there are no plans to extend those contracts before this season, but he praised LaFleur, Gutekunst and Ball as 'three exceptional people doing an exceptional job right now and working well together.' Policy was part of the panel that hired Gutekunst and LaFleur. He has a longer relationship with Ball through their Arena Football backgrounds. Although he wants more meetings among top Packers officials to foster better communication, Policy said he has no plans to meddle. 'I would communicate very frequently and openly and directly with them on all things, but certainly no team needs two head coaches or two GMs,' Policy said. This is the type of opportunity Policy always wanted. Policy said he started thinking about a career in football as far back as high school. 'I had two dream jobs in mind,' Policy said. 'Running a team or commissioner of the league were the two.' Policy remembers riding in a passenger's seat and listening to his dad negotiate Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young's contract on a car phone. He also recalls the hate mail his father received after making controversial decisions. 'I think my dad just always had thick skin,' Policy said. 'And I think I inherited that, so I'm grateful for that.' Policy says he still calls his dad a couple of times a week and often seeks his advice. But he also realizes his new job has its own set of challenges based on the Packers' unique ownership structure. He expects his years working alongside Murphy to help in that regard, because it taught him how to become more collaborative. Policy calls Murphy 'probably the strongest consensus-building leader I've met.' 'In my opinion, every NFL team is a community asset, and every president is a steward of that assets,' Policy said. 'Here, it's literal. I think it's more figurative everywhere else. Here it's literal, and it's more important.' Policy said the Packers' status as a publicly owned franchise provides advantages and disadvantages. The benefit is that the Packers can invest any money they make right back into their team, and there are no worries about family squabbles interfering with anything. But he also noted that other teams can bring in limited partners and make revenue way beyond anything the Packers gain through their occasional stock sales. 'From an organizational and operational standpoint, it's a competitive advantage,' Policy said. 'From a raising capital standpoint, it's probably not an advantage.' That requires the Packers to make smart decisions in order to remain competitive. Policy looks forward to that challenge, while continuing to utilize the guidance he received from his dad at the dinner table. 'To this day, I will tell you I rely on the lessons I've learned from him,' Policy said. ___ AP NFL:
New York Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
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. Advertisement '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.' Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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.
Associated Press
11 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Ed Policy believes his family background will help him in his new role as Packers' president/CEO
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Ed Policy got a keen understanding about the realities of his dream occupation while growing up in a football family. Now that he's about to take over as the president/CEO of the Green Bay Packers, Policy gets to put into practice the lessons he learned as the son of former San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns president Carmen Policy. 'It was an incredible education,' Policy said. 'We talked about the NFL and the business of the NFL and pro football every night at the dinner table.' Policy experienced the joy of Super Bowl championships and the adversity that came when his father made difficult decisions such as trading Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The training continued as Policy spent the past 13 years in Green Bay while the Packers continued succeeding after the 2023 trade of four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Now it's his turn to make the tough calls. Policy, 54, assumes his new role July 25 when the Packers hold their annual shareholders meeting. He was recommended by a search committee and unanimously selected by the Packers' board of directors to take over for Mark Murphy, who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 next month. Murphy had held this position since 2008. Don't expect this transition to result in major changes. 'We both approach the importance of this job and especially the stewardship nature of this job — we take that very importantly — so I think you'll see a lot more similarities than differences,' Policy said. 'Obviously we're slightly different generations, different communication styles. We're different people. But I don't think there are going to be any real glaring differences.' Policy, a former Arena Football League commissioner, president and CEO, joined the Packers as vice president and general counsel in August 2012 and was promoted to chief operating officer in January 2018. In Policy's new role, Packers coach Matt LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball will report to him. Policy says all three of them have multiple years left in their contracts, though he wouldn't specify beyond that. Policy said there are no plans to extend those contracts before this season, but he praised LaFleur, Gutekunst and Ball as 'three exceptional people doing an exceptional job right now and working well together.' Policy was part of the panel that hired Gutekunst and LaFleur. He has a longer relationship with Ball through their Arena Football backgrounds. Although he wants more meetings among top Packers officials to foster better communication, Policy said he has no plans to meddle. 'I would communicate very frequently and openly and directly with them on all things, but certainly no team needs two head coaches or two GMs,' Policy said. This is the type of opportunity Policy always wanted. Policy said he started thinking about a career in football as far back as high school. 'I had two dream jobs in mind,' Policy said. 'Running a team or commissioner of the league were the two.' Policy remembers riding in a passenger's seat and listening to his dad negotiate Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young's contract on a car phone. He also recalls the hate mail his father received after making controversial decisions. 'I think my dad just always had thick skin,' Policy said. 'And I think I inherited that, so I'm grateful for that.' Policy says he still calls his dad a couple of times a week and often seeks his advice. But he also realizes his new job has its own set of challenges based on the Packers' unique ownership structure. He expects his years working alongside Murphy to help in that regard, because it taught him how to become more collaborative. Policy calls Murphy 'probably the strongest consensus-building leader I've met.' 'In my opinion, every NFL team is a community asset, and every president is a steward of that assets,' Policy said. 'Here, it's literal. I think it's more figurative everywhere else. Here it's literal, and it's more important.' Policy said the Packers' status as a publicly owned franchise provides advantages and disadvantages. The benefit is that the Packers can invest any money they make right back into their team, and there are no worries about family squabbles interfering with anything. But he also noted that other teams can bring in limited partners and make revenue way beyond anything the Packers gain through their occasional stock sales. 'From an organizational and operational standpoint, it's a competitive advantage,' Policy said. 'From a raising capital standpoint, it's probably not an advantage.' That requires the Packers to make smart decisions in order to remain competitive. Policy looks forward to that challenge, while continuing to utilize the guidance he received from his dad at the dinner table. 'To this day, I will tell you I rely on the lessons I've learned from him,' Policy said. ___ AP NFL:
USA Today
31-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Packers to transition to new CEO/president Ed Policy at annual shareholders meeting
Packers to transition to new CEO/president Ed Policy at annual shareholders meeting The Green Bay Packers will formally transition from Mark Murphy to Ed Policy as the team's CEO and president during the annual shareholders meeting, which is set for Friday, July 25 inside Lambeau Field. The mandatory retirement age of 70 arrives for Murphy on July 13. He has served as CEO and president of the Packers since Jan. 28, 2008. "I look forward to Ed taking over leadership of the Packers. He's been a tremendous asset to the organization and I'm confident he will be an excellent steward in the role," Murphy said in a press release. Over Murphy's 17 years in charge, the Packers successfully transitioned from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, won Super Bowl XLV and built up the area around Lambeau Field now known as "Titletown." Green Bay made 12 playoff appearances, and Murphy oversaw only two sets of coaches/general managers -- Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson, and Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst. Policy, the son of former San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns president Carmen Policy, has been with the Packers since 2012. He has been the team's chief operating officer since January of 2018. The Packers announced him as the successor to Murphy last summer, and he's been transitioning into the top job over the last year. Policy is 54 years old. The meeting will also include a vote on three candidates for the Packers Board of Directors. The Packers open training camp with a practice on Wednesday, July 23. The team is expected to hold a training camp practice on the same day as the shareholders meeting.
