Getting past the Green Bay Packers remains the primary objective for the Chicago Bears. It has been that way for decades. Until this team can prove it can beat its arch rivals, the thoughts of winning a Super Bowl should be shelved. The good news is they took a big step in the right direction, stunning the Packers at Lambeau Field last season 24-22. It was the first victory Chicago enjoyed over Green Bay since 2018. That defeat seemed to send the Packers into a funk as Philadelphia immediately bounced them from the playoffs.
Still, one would think everything is fine for that organization going into 2025. They won 11 games last season, so there is nothing to worry about. Except that might not be true. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, a situation is developing. Longtime team president Mark Murphy has officially retired. He has overseen the organization since 2007, winning a Super Bowl and nine division titles. His replacement will be Ed Policy.
Despite not being on the job long, he’s already stirring up some controversy.
Incoming Green Bay Packers president/CEO Ed Policy is not quite ready to offer contract extensions to Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst, but given that he said he doesn’t generally believe an NFL head coach or general manager should work into the last year of their contracts without a new deal, it makes 2025 even more important.
That’s because both LaFleur and Gutekunst enter this season with two years left on the contract extensions they signed in 2022. LaFleur, Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball will all report to the team president, continuing a structure outgoing president Mark Murphy put in place before the 2018 season.
“All three of them [are] under multi-year contracts,” Policy said of Ball, Gutekunst and LaFleur. “None of them are up at the end of this year. We won’t be doing anything going into this season.”
The Chicago Bears can’t only hope the Packers are that dumb.
Matt Lafleur is one of the best head coaches in the NFL. The numbers tell that story. Since taking over in 2019, he has made the playoffs in five of six seasons and reached the NFC championship game twice. It seems crazy that Green Bay would ever consider flirting with the idea of moving on. Normal teams would’ve already engaged him in contract talks. It feels like the Packers are playing with fire by putting this on the back burner for another. Lafleur and Gutekunst have every right to feel like they deserve new deals. They’ve kept this team competitive beyond what probably should’ve been a rebuilding period. The Chicago Bears know something about that. If Green Bay somehow alienates those two guys, it could blow up in the team’s face.