The Packers blew a huge lead in Chicago on Saturday night, but it doesn’t look like that will cost head coach Matt LaFleur his job.
LaFleur said on Sunday afternoon that he expected to meet with Packers CEO Ed Policy soon to discuss his future with the franchise. The 2026 season is the final one on LaFleur’s current contract and Policy said last June that he is “generally opposed” to having coaches working on the final year of contracts.
Avoiding that would leave an extension or a parting of the ways as the two options to move forward. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports on Monday morning that the Packers are expected to go the extension route and are going to try to work out a deal to retain LaFleur in the coming days.
LaFleur has gone 76-40-1 over seven seasons as the Packers’ head coach. The team has gone 3-6 in the playoffs, including first-round losses in the last two years.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst is also heading into the final year of his contract, so the Packers may be hammering out multiple deals in the near future.
After last night’s loss to the Bears, there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding head coach Matt LaFleur’s future with the Packers.
As has been widely noted, LaFleur is about to enter the last year of his contract. That puts new team CEO Ed Policy in a position to make a choice about LaFleur, who has been the club’s head coach since 2019.
In his Sunday press conference, LaFleur continued to say that his job status is not his current focus before noting a meeting with Policy will come soon.
“We’re fresh off this loss. My sole focus is on our players, our team, and just trying to find ways to get better,” LaFleur said. “We talked briefly on the plane, and there’s going to be a time where we’re going to get together — either later tonight or tomorrow sometime.”
LaFleur was twice asked if he would be willing to coach next season on his current contract, and both times reiterated it wasn’t his focus. LaFleur did, however, positively characterize his relationship with Policy.
“He’s been great, he’s been super supportive,” LaFleur said. “Yeah, I can’t say enough great things about him.”
After seven seasons, LaFleur’s accumulated a 76-40-1 record in the regular season with a 3-6 postseason record. Is LaFleur still the man to get the Packers over the top?
“I don’t think those are questions for me,” LaFleur said. “Like I said, I think my sole focus is just trying to find solutions to some of our issues and why things went awry yesterday. It’s disappointing. I’m as disappointed, obviously, as all you guys, as our fans, as everybody in our organization because we had plenty of opportunities to slam the door shut and we didn’t get it done.”
And LaFleur is still planning on being Green Bay’s head coach in 2026, telling reporters “of course” he wants to continue in his job.
“This is one of one,” LaFleur said. “I love this place. I love the people. As much as you guys drive me nuts sometimes, I love you guys. I love our players, the locker room, everybody in our organization.
“I mean, this is a unique place. The community has been outstanding. I grew up in the midwest and it’s got the same type of vibe that I grew up [with] in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. So, people are just — unless you’re from here, you don’t understand, I think, how friendly everybody is. And it’s nice no matter who you are, you’re walking down the street, and people say hello to one another. I’ve lived other places, so I think this is a unique place, this is a special place. My kids love it here, my family loves it here.”
Still, LaFleur knows there are things he and the team as a whole need to do differently to reach more postseason success.
“I think we have to look at everything — from how we train, to how we practice,” LaFleur said. “These are conversations that I’ve already had with some of our people. And just trying to find, maybe, different ways to do things. But those are all the conversations that are ongoing right now — just taking all the data we have, comparing it to other teams, whatever it may be.”
We’ll see if LaFleur’s shot to do that will be with Green Bay or potentially elsewhere in 2026.
A bad ending to the Packers season isn’t dimming interest from other teams in their defensive coordinator.
According to multiple reports, the Cardinals, Dolphins, Falcons and Raiders have all requested interviews with Jeff Hafley. The Titans had previously made a request, so it’s a total of five teams with eyes on Hafley being part of their head coaching search.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said on Sunday that he anticipates Hafley landing a job with one of those teams.
Hafley finished his second season in Green Bay with Saturday night’s loss to the Bears. He was previously the head coach at Boston College and worked for the 49ers and Buccaneers earlier in his career.
Starting this week, former Ravens coach John Harbaugh will attack the interview process with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. And with leverage the NFL hasn’t seen in decades.
Harbaugh has multiple options for his next stop. He’s being selective. And he could end up having even more choices, based on what happens in Green Bay and (if the Bills lose today) Buffalo.
He’s in position to request a very large salary. He’s in position to seek control over the roster. He’s in position to ask for the team to let him hire a General Manager, even if it means firing the one they currently have.
That doesn’t mean everyone would do it. But it only takes one who is sufficiently desperate to give Harbaugh what he wants. And if Harbaugh gives a little on one term, he could get more on another.
Harbaugh also has another potential play, one that we addressed on PFT Live after the Ravens moved on. He could take a year off and work in TV, like Sean Payton did four years ago. It would make Harbaugh the odds-on, A-list candidate throughout the next season, hovering over every hot seat as the next coach, if the current coach gets fired.
If Harbaugh decides to wait, the hot spots for 2027 would be (possibly) the Jets, the Bills (if they don’t make a change this year), the Bengals, the Colts, the Chiefs (if Andy Reid decides to retire), the Cowboys, the Commanders, the Buccaneers, the Panthers, and the Saints.
Either way, Harbaugh’s effort to explore his next coaching job starts soon. And he could decide to take a job now, or to take a job later.
After Bears coach Ben Johnson delivered a four-letter message to the Packers in the locker room after Saturday night’s win over Green Bay, Johnson took to the podium to explain that his team perceived disrespect in advance of the third ever playoff meeting between the hundred-year rivals.
“There was probably a little bit more noise coming out of their building up north to start the week, which we heard loud and clear, players and coaches alike,” Johnson said.
Johnson didn’t specify the noise. And if there was any, it wasn’t loud enough to rise above the noise of a noisy week of NFL news.
As noted by ESPN.com, Packers receiver Christian Watson and cornerback Keisean Nixon said they wanted to face Chicago in the playoffs. Also, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley told reporters during his midweek press conference, “We are not going to be done, so I will see you guys next week.”
Whatever it was, Johnson and the Bears saw it, and they milked it.
“It definitely got us riled up,” Bears safety Kevin Byard III said. “It got us amped up for the game.”
The point is this. They can act like they don’t listen. But they do. They all do. And for any players or coaches who may create some noise, it’s the NFL’s version of the Miranda warnings.
Anything you say can and will be used against you.
