The Green Bay Packers are working to bring back coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst, each heading into the final year of their current contracts, and there are expected to be contract extensions for both, league sources told ESPN.
The Packers continue to speak with LaFleur and Gutekunst this weekend, working toward a positive resolution which is the most likely outcome, according to sources.
Sources told ESPN they would be surprised if the Packers don’t finalize extensions with LaFleur and Gutekunst.
Packers President Ed Policy, LaFleur and Gutekunst were spotted together Thursday night at the American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin. They discussed the future and all are working to do something to keep the trio intact.
Policy said in June that he would prefer not to have a lame-duck coach. LaFleur declined to answer last weekend whether he would be willing to coach the final year of his contract without an extension.
The Packers went 76-40-1 in the regular season under LaFleur and made the playoffs in six of his seven seasons. But they haven’t reached the Super Bowl during that span and haven’t appeared in a conference championship game since the 2020 season, the second of a back-to-back appearance in LaFleur’s first two years.
Gutekunst has worked for the Packers since 1999 and has been their general manager since 2018. He hired LaFleur before the start of the 2019 season and helped orchestrate several organizational changes during his tenure as general manager, including drafting quarterback Jordan Love in 2020, trading franchise icon Aaron Rodgers in 2023, and bringing in Micah Parsons in the summer’s blockbuster trade last with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers’ season ended in disappointing fashion last Saturday night when they blew an 18-point lead in a 31-27 loss to the rival Chicago Bears in the NFC wild-card round. Several high-profile players on the Packers, led by Parsons, publicly supported LaFleur in the days following the season-ending loss.
Source | domain www.espn.com
