Matt LaFleur contract talks are about more than wins and losses, Schefter reports, and it highlights a troubling Packers reality
Green Bay wants to extend its head coach, but financial reality makes the situation more complicated.
The Green Bay Packers want to keep Matt LaFleur around. And when that happens, you simply don’t see head coaches changing teams. But the latest sequence of events show a troubling reality for the franchise, which could affect new president Ed Policy’s decision-making over the next few months.
On Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the discussion around LaFleur is not about performance at this point, but about value and leverage.
“The bigger deal is, can they figure out a contract of fair value to keep him there? I think that’s what this is about, them trying to negotiate a contract, seeing what they could come up with. If they get a deal done, it’s a non-talking point, and his future is secure there. If they can’t figure out a contract that works for both sides, well, then you have to ask yourself, are they willing to let him go into the last year of his deal, which he would be, or what do you do about that? Very rarely do teams want coaches going into the last year of their deal. Which, I believe the priority will be to re-sign to an extension this offseason.” — Adam Schefter.
As our friend Justis Mosqueda masterfully pointed out, the Packers tend to be cheap when they are hiring coaches and building the coaching staff. When LaFleur took over in 2019, he agreed to a $5 million yearly average, and that went up to the $8 million-$9 million range when LaFleur got an extension in 2022.
That’s not even in the top 10 right now. The Chicago Bears gave Ben Johnson $13 million a year right away, and Kansas City Chiefs’ Andy Reid tops the market at $20 million per season.
It’s hard to justify any type of extension for LaFleur below the $15 million mark, and that’s just the reality of the market. If they want a cheaper contract, they would have to go to a cheaper head coach.
Independent cap analyst Ken Ingalls brought up that Matt LaFleur’s performance in his first contract was factually better that what he got in his second deal. While there are obvious caveats to that based on the roster-building timeline, the Packers could use that to limit his price range.
But if other teams are willing to pay him much more, it’s a harder fight. If the Packers refuse to pay LaFleur what the market says he’s worth, the options would be allowing him to coach in a contract year or trading him to another NFL team and look for a new head coach.
Troubling trend for the franchise
This entire discussion is a bigger-picture issue for the Green Bay Packers as a franchise. It’s understandable that a team without an owner, and that has to finance itself to survive would be hesitant to overspend.
However, coaching is likely the most impactful area to avoid spending money everywhere else. There isn’t a salary cap for coaches’ salaries, and recent history in particular shows how impactful they are to elevate rosters and organizations.
The Packers have not shied away from spending big on players — quarterback Jordan Love ($55 million) and edge defender Micah Parsons ($46.5 million) combine to be the most expensive duo in the NFL in yearly average. But coaching is a smart way to compensate for that, maximizing what the team gets from players on their rookie deals and less expensive free agents, for example.
The argument to fire or move on from Matt LaFleur was always flawed in the first place. However, it’s much weaker when the Packers themselves want to keep him based on performance — and allowing a head coach to leave because you aren’t willing to afford him would be a management malpractice.
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