{"id":674172,"date":"2026-01-13T14:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/674172\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:30:19","slug":"packers-hc-matt-lafleurs-status-uncertain-lafleur-gm-brian-gutekunst-not-a-package-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/674172\/","title":{"rendered":"Packers HC Matt LaFleur’s Status Uncertain; LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst Not A “Package Deal”"},"content":{"rendered":"

11:08pm: When speaking to the media today, LaFleur said (via Demovsky<\/a>) he and Policy spoke briefly on the flight home from Chicago. LaFleur added further talks are expected tonight or tomorrow, and one of the topics brought up will no doubt be his future in the organization.<\/p>\n

11:08am:\u00a0Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was unwilling to discuss his future in the aftermath of his team\u2019s devastating loss to the Bears in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday. That has not stopped the rest of the NFL world from discussing it, and according to ESPN\u2019s Rob Demovsky<\/a>, the situation is unclear.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Before the game, we learned the Packers and LaFleur would have conversations about an extension<\/a> after the season, and the NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport also said LaFleur was not coaching for his job in the playoffs. That suggested LaFleur would be back in Green Bay for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

However, in their loss to Chicago, the Packers squandered an 18-point halftime lead and gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter alone. LaFleur should not be blamed for Brandon McManus<\/a>\u2019 missed kicks (two FGs and a PAT) or a Caleb Williams<\/a> fourth-down conversion that will be forever cemented in Bears lore, but the defeat adds to a recent string of disappointing finishes.<\/p>\n

LaFleur guided the Packers to 13-win campaigns in each of his first three seasons at the helm, and he successfully facilitated a monumental quarterback transition from Aaron Rodgers<\/a> to Jordan Love<\/a>. On the other hand, Green Bay has now lost three straight playoff games and has not won the NFC North since 2021. Even so, Albert Breer of SI.com<\/a> believes the team would not consider a coaching change under normal circumstances, though he acknowledges LaFleur\u2019s contract situation could complicate matters.<\/p>\n

LaFleur, 46, is presently under contract through 2026, and team president Ed Policy has made it plain that he (like most team execs) does not want to have his head coach or general manager go into a season with just one year remaining on their deals. Despite a regression from LaFleur\u2019s stellar start to his Packers tenure, he is in line for a raise and could command $15MM or more per season. Breer openly wonders whether Policy is willing to authorize such a deal at this point (it is believed that LaFleur is presently earning less than $10MM per year, per Demovsky).<\/p>\n

General manager Brian Gutekunst\u2019s contract also runs through 2026, and Demovsky confirms the GM and HC are not a package deal. If Policy elects to retain one and fire the other, Demovsky believes Gutekunst would be on more solid ground. Indeed, league sources said if Gutekunst returns, he will have more authority than he currently has (when former team president Mark Murphy hired Gutekunst in 2018, he deviated from the club\u2019s longstanding HC-GM-team reporting structure and had both the HC and the GM report directly to the president).<\/p>\n

As Demovsky acknowledges, there are a wide variety of outcomes here, including a LaFleur extension \u2013 which may come with conditions of staff changes and\/or giving up his offensive play-calling duties \u2013 an outright firing, or a trade. One way or another, a speedy resolution is expected, and if LaFleur does become available, he would immediately become a top candidate for other teams in need of a new HC, according to ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter (video link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Falcons, who recently hired Matt Ryan as their \u201cpresident of football,\u201d<\/a> certainly profile as a logical landing spot, since LaFleur worked in Atlanta as Ryan\u2019s quarterbacks coach during the 2015-16 seasons. And, if the Packers move on from LaFleur, they could jump to the top of John Harbaugh\u2019s list of preferred destinations.<\/p>\n

There has been plenty of chatter connecting Harbaugh to the Giants. But as Schefter and ESPN colleague Jordan Raanan<\/a> observe, Bob Harlan\u2019s son, Bryan, is Harbaugh\u2019s agent. Bob Harlan joined the Packers as assistant general manager in 1971, served as president and CEO from 1989-2006, and has been a chairman emeritus since 2008. Plus, Green Bay has a talented quarterback and roster, and Raanan classifies Harbaugh as a \u201cMidwest guy at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaFleur will address reporters at 4pm CT on Sunday. There may or may not be more clarity on his status at that time, though the Green Bay job would threaten the Ravens\u2019 and Giants\u2019 gigs as the most appealing vacancies on the market if it opens up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"11:08pm: When speaking to the media today, LaFleur said (via Demovsky) he and Policy spoke briefly on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[254,2945,7,345,2909,3031,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-674172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-atlanta-falcons","9":"tag-brian-gutekunst","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-john-harbaugh","13":"tag-matt-lafleur","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115888274781926596","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}