New Green Bay Packers President and CEO Ed Policy continues Mark Murphy’s monthly column, where fans can ask him questions about the team. This is how Policy’s January post begins:
It’s hard to believe that we are in 2026 and the end of the regular season is approaching. It seems like just yesterday we were starting training camp and our guys were riding their bikes across the street. We’re now at 9-6-1 with a division showdown ahead and a playoff spot solidified.
Adversity is the norm in the National Football League and I am very proud of how our team has handled many challenges. Last season we struggled within our division and this year we improved to 4-1. We have persevered through a litany of injuries and a very challenging schedule and have put ourselves in a position to compete for our ultimate goal, a Super Bowl championship.
Here’s why this is relevant: Policy did not choose to extend either head coach Matt LaFleur or general manager Brian Gutekunst this offseason, which somewhat reinvigorated a Super Bowl-or-bust mentality among Packers fans, one that only added more fuel to the fire after the Micah Parsons trade.
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But based on Policy’s choice of words here, it seems like his standard was really the team’s position within the NFC North and making the playoffs in 2025. To be fair, achieving those goals with 15 players on injured lists is no easy task. In Week 18 alone, the Packers had to make 21 roster moves to make a roster in a no-stakes regular-season finale.
Ultimately, I think the team will bring back both LaFleur and Gutekunst, although I’m not sure if LaFleur will receive a multi-year extension, and I’m also not sure if LaFleur will accept a short-term extension. Based on what Rob Demovsky of ESPN has said, the head coach is expected to begin reporting directly to the general manager starting next offseason, instead of both the head coach and general manager reporting to the president/CEO independently. In short, the CEO will gain a lot more power in 2026.
If you look at the avalanche of articles that emerged this week from rumor peddlers around the league about the upcoming head coach and general manager market, you won’t find LaFleur or Gutekunst’s names listed anywhere as people on the hot seat heading into Week 18. For the most part, the only firings that seem to be on the horizon at the head coaching level are Pete Carroll of the Las Vegas Raiders and Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns, who are a combined team. 6-26 in 2025. As a general manager, the feeling is that the most likely firing (if there is another this year) is Atlanta’s Terry Fontenot.
Still, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is an attractive head coaching candidate, while Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan is a name floating around for general manager jobs. Both interviewed for these positions elsewhere last offseason.