Matt LaFleur says he wants to return as Packers coach. As questions hang over his future, will the decision be his?
- - Matt LaFleur says he wants to return as Packers coach. As questions hang over his future, will the decision be his?
Yahoo Sports StaffJanuary 11, 2026 at 6:59 AM
0
After another heart-breaking playoff defeat — and another season ending without a trip to the Super Bowl — Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur wasn't ready late Saturday to discuss his future with the team.
"With all due respect to your question, now's not the time for that," LaFleur told reporters when asked whether he expects to return next season. "I'm just hurting for these guys. I can only think about what just happened, and there will be time for that."
LaFleur has only one season remaining on his contract with Green Bay. NFL Network reported earlier Saturday that Packers team president Ed Policy was expected to meet with LaFleur shortly after the season to begin negotiating a new contract for the coach.
Whether that changes in the wake of the Packers blowing an 18-point lead during Saturday's stunning 31-27 wild-card round loss to the rival Chicago Bears remains to be seen. The Packers had been 9-3-1 before losing five straight games to end the season. All of those losses came after star defensive end Micah Parsons was lost for the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
"We're not where we want to be," LaFleur said, according to ESPN. "I know we fought through a lot of adversity this year. Unfortunately, we didn't do enough to overcome that adversity. That's all of us collectively."
LaFleur, whose $5 million salary ranks well below the top tier of the league's coaches, made clear he wants to return as the Packers' coach.
"This is the greatest organization in the world, in my opinion," LaFleur said via ESPN. "It's very humbling. I'm certainly disappointed right now, disappointed mostly for — well, not mostly — I'm disappointed for everybody that's associated with the Green Bay Packers. I'm disappointed for our locker room. I'm disappointed for our fans. I'm disappointed for our leadership, all our employees, everybody involved with the Green Bay Packers right now."
The Packers have made the playoffs in all but one of LaFleur's seven seasons as head coach but have not advanced to the Super Bowl under him. Poor special teams play has continued to prove costly for Green Bay in the postseason. Brandon McManus missed a pair of field goals and an extra point in the loss to the Bears.
Source: “AOL Sports”
