A contract extension seemed to be the most likely outcome for Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers going forward, as long as the Packers didn’t get blown out or have a meltdown of epic proportions in their wild-card matchup against their bitter rival, the Chicago Bears.
Lo and behold, Green Bay collapsed in the second half in Chicago, for the second time since week 16.
Green Bay had a dominant 21-3 lead at halftime after a masterful 30 minutes. The one hiccup came right at the end, where kicker Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard kick as time expired.
What could go wrong did go wrong in the second half, featuring a fourth quarter where Chicago outscored Green Bay 25-6.
The head coach of the Packers since 2019 has one year left on his contract after an extension in 2022.
LaFleur has been a winning coach in Green Bay with a 76-40-1 regular season record, but has been unable to elevate his team back to the Super Bowl.
Ed Policy:
Green Bay president Ed Policy took over the position from Mark Murphy in 2025. He said before the campaign that they wouldn’t like a season where LaFleur coached with one year left on his deal. Meaning LaFleur will most likely be extended or fired this offseason.
General manager Brian Gutekunst also has only one year left on his contract. Of the two, it’s safe to assume Gutekunst has more job security than LaFleur, but he is not untouchable.
Policy has been unafraid of making a big move early as president, case in point being the Micah Parsons trade, which many saw as uncharachteristic from Green Bay.
This offseason will be vital in deciding the future leadership of the franchise.
Special Teams:
Special teams have been an issue for Green Bay long before the LaFleur era.
The crescendo of the unit’s mishaps arguably came on Saturday in Chicago, where McManus left seven points on the field on three missed kicks. The Packers lost by four.
The kicks weren’t the only negative plays on the night, including a penalty, a fumble and allowing a long Chicago kick return.
These types of performances are not new when it comes to the Packers’ special teams unit.
Packers’ coach Rich Bisaccia came to Green Bay as the highest-paid special teams coordinator in 2022.
His high salary has not translated to special teams success, which has continued to be a problem for the Packers since his arrival.
It would be a shock if Bisaccia returned for another season in Green Bay.
Reasons to Keep LaFleur:
- Supreme play-caller
Although Packers’ fans have groaned in years past about LaFleur’s obsession with jet sweeps or a conservative approach in the second half of games, there’s zero doubt that there is a short list of better player callers in the NFL than him.
The Packers have scored an average of 25.1 points per game since he took over in 2019, according to StatMuse.
Another point that pro-LaFleur people bring up is his success when Green Bay was forced to play backup quarterback Malik Willis.
- Rapport with Jordan Love
Jordan Love has only been a part of a LaFleur-led team since being drafted in 2020. A new regime would mean a new system to learn. Would Jordan Love be as good in a different system?
- Grass Isn’t Always Greener
Once you fire a head coach, you need to get another one. The head coaching class of 2026 is shaping up to be interesting, with some options being John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Brian Flores, Robert Saleh, Jeff Hafley (Packers’ current defensive coordinator) and more.
No options are without serious questions, and the main question to ask is if any of them could do better than LaFleur going forward.
Injuries:
Another case for LaFleur returning is looking at the plethora of injuries the Packers sustained throughout the year.
It wasn’t just the number of injured players; it was the quality of them. It’s fair to say that the championship expectations were dashed after week 15’s nightmare second half in Denver.
- DE: Micah Parsons – Torn ACL in week 15
- TE: Tucker Kraft – Torn ACL in week eight
- WR: Jayden Reed – Sidelined most of the year with a shoulder/foot injury after week two
- C: Elgton Jenkins – Lower leg injury in week 10
- DT: Devonte Wyatt – Ankle injury in week 13
- RT: Zach Tom – Knee injury in week 15
Injuries are unfortunately a part of the sport, but when they happen to some of the best your team has to offer, they can sometimes be insurmountable.
A LaFleur-truther could argue that if the Packers had their key guys healthy, like a Parsons or Kraft, this team would’ve had everything needed to contend.
Whatever the case, the injuries still don’t excuse blowing an 18-point halftime lead.
Reasons to Move On:
- Unable to get to the Super Bowl
In Titletown, the expectation is not only to get to the title game, but to win it. The Packers haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 2010-11 season, where they won the Lombardi trophy.
Green Bay has had enough contending rosters and chances to get to the Super Bowl, but has floundered when it mattered most. The closest they’ve been was two straight NFC Championship games at the start of LaFleur’s reign in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The Packers got played off the field by the San Fransico 49ers in their first go around, and came up short against Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next year, despite opportunities to win.
- Lack of division success
LaFleur came to Green Bay and immediately rattled off three years winning the NFC North, but hasn’t won it since.
The most egregious instance was this past season, where the Bears left the door open, winning only 11 games on the year. If Green Bay didn’t end the regular season with four straight losses, especially including the week 16 choke in Chicago and the defensive dud laid against the Ravens the next week, the Packers would’ve had a great opportunity to win the North for the first time in four years.
It goes without saying that winning the division is huge for the playoffs.
The Bears won the North this year, allowing them to play the penultimate game of this season’s edition of the historic rivalry at Soldier Field instead of Lambeau.
Green Bay has entered the playoffs as the 7-seed the past three seasons, which has denied them any home-field advantage.
- Lack of Playoff Success
Not only have the Packers not made the Super Bowl, but they haven’t been good enough overall in the playoffs since 2019. They have a postseason record of 3-6 under LaFleur.
- Undisciplined Team
One staple of the LaFleur era is a tendency to have mental lapses, especially early in seasons. The most notable year of this was Love’s first year as a starter in 2023, where the team couldn’t get out of their own way until their hot streak to end the season.
Despite the team getting older over the past two seasons, the lapses have not disappeared.
Keisean Nixon, who has racked up plenty of unnecessary roughness penalties over the years, got one more in the 31-27 loss in Chicago.
The Packers have had an extremely young team the past couple of years, which doesn’t help.
- Choke Gene
When Green Bay has been in big-time close games, it’s been rare for them to make the three to five necessary plays to close out a game. Instead of being a team that has managed to win games they weren’t supposed to, they have been a team that loses games they weren’t supposed to.
The LaFleur Packers have also tended to lay eggs in games more than you would like.
Bad losses this past season include at Cleveland, home vs. Carolina and both Chicago losses. Not to mention the overtime tie in Dallas that should’ve been a win.
- Run Its Course
It’s been seven years of LaFleur at the helm. The Packers have been unable to break through, and the bad tendencies of this team have persisted. An argument could be made that if the Packers were to break through under LaFleur, it would have already happened by now.
At this point, it may be beneficial for both parties to move on.
The players may need a new voice in the locker room, and LaFleur could flourish elsewhere, coaching a different team.
Jordan Love – LaFleur (Continued):
There is no doubt Jordan Love is the franchise quarterback for the Packers moving forward. 2025-26 was another year of progression for the 2020 first-round pick.
Love has developed under the LaFleur system and has thrived under it on many occasions. A new coach would mean a different philosophy that Love would have to adjust to. A question to ask if the Packers go another direction is what Love would look like under a new system.
How long would it take for him to acclimate? Would the learning stretch be worth it, given the Packers are in a clear contending window right now? And would the new regime be better than Matt LaFleur’s, who is renowned as a top-tier playcaller?
Love’s pure talent is undeniable, but improving the offense in LaFleur’s absence is no easy feat.
Policy’s Big Decision:
It could’ve been a very uneventful offseason for Packers fans, especially without a first-round pick in the 2026 draft, thanks to the Parsons trade. An inexcusable choke in the playoffs to the team’s biggest rival could make it a fascinating next seven months if Policy decides to shake things up.
Policy has been unafraid to make a big-time decision early on in his tenure. Could LaFleur’s dismissal be the next?
If Policy decides to keep LaFleur around, it will be a hard sell to Packers fans who just witnessed another heartbreaking playoff collapse.