Matt LaFleur’s professional status has been the subject of discussion since Ed Policy confirmed that he would not make a decision on Green Bay’s head coach and his contract until after the conclusion of the 2025 season. However, the Packers president and CEO appeared to show support for the way LaFleur and his team performed during a year full of adversity.
During his regular Q&A with fans on Packers.com, Policy opened with a statement praising the way Green Bay has run this campaign.
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He wrote: “Adversity is the norm in the National Football League, and I am extremely proud of how our team has overcome many challenges. Last season we struggled within our division and this year we improved to 4-1.”
Green Bay’s division record in 2024 — 1-5, with the only victory coming via a blocked field goal at the buzzer — was a stick used to beat LaFleur and his team in the offseason, but this year they failed to recover an onside kick after going 5-0 in the NFC North.
Policy continued: “We persevered through a litany of injuries and a very difficult schedule and put ourselves in a position to compete for our ultimate goal, a Super Bowl championship.”
Those injuries included losing tight end Tucker Kraft in the midst of a stellar year, top interior defender Devonte Wyatt on Thanksgiving and finally All-Pro passer Micah Parsons, all for the season. These losses, particularly Parsons, were a major blow to Green Bay’s Super Bowl chances in 2025.
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There has been speculation about LaFleur’s future with the team dating back to last offseason, driven by the fact that his contract expires after next season and some comments from Policy after taking over from Mark Murphy as president and CEO.
Policy did not renew either LaFleur’s or general manager Brian Gutekunst’s contracts with two years remaining and told Green Bay media he was “generally opposed” to them entering the final year of their contracts.
This hinted Policy would decide whether to extend LaFleur and Gutekunst or fire them after the 2025 season. Policy’s offseason comments may have been slightly misrepresented and portrayed him as a skeptic of the LaFleur/Gutekunst regime, rather than simply explaining the team’s usual process.
A vocal minority of fans who don’t believe in LaFleur in particular seized on this and interpreted it to mean that the head coach was in the hot seat and in real danger of losing his job.
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That always seemed like a stretch given his stellar regular-season record, and Policy’s statement Saturday seemed to show empathy for how this year fell short of expectations given extenuating circumstances.
While some will insist that LaFleur should be questioned every year when the Packers fail to win a championship, as his seventh season at the helm of the team draws to a close, Policy’s comments don’t sound like those of a man who doesn’t believe in his head coach.
Of course, Green Bay won’t want to end the year on a five-game losing streak, which might be the case if its backups are beaten by Minnesota this week and they fall in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row.
But LaFleur has established himself as one of the NFL’s most successful head coaches since taking the helm, and by far the most likely outcome remains that the Packers give him a long-term contract extension this offseason.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers CEO shows support for Matt LaFleur ahead of contract decision
