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Packers, HC Matt LaFleur To Discuss Extension After Season

By | at January 10, 2026 8:43 am

With Green Bay heading into a wild-card round showdown in Chicago on Saturday, a report earlier this week indicated Packers head coach Matt LaFleur may need a win to feel “completely” safe. That’s not the case, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who reports that LaFleur isn’t coaching for his job in the postseason.

Although the Packers opted against extending the contracts of LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst in 2025, a new deal for the coach may come together soon. The Packers will discuss an extension with LaFleur when their season ends, per Rapoport, who adds there’s mutual interest in an agreement.

With LaFleur under contract for another year, the Packers aren’t in danger of losing him to another team this offseason. However, Packers CEO Ed Policy has made it known he doesn’t like when coaches and GMs are in lame-duck territory.

“I’m generally opposed — I’d never say never — [but] I’m generally opposed to a coach or GM going into the last year of their contract,” Policy said last summer. “That creates a lot of issues. I think normally you have a pretty good idea of where that relationship is going when you have two years left — not always, but normally.”

That may also point toward an offseason extension with Gutekunst, who has formed an effective tandem with LaFleur. While the Packers haven’t gone to a Super Bowl since the two began working together in 2019, they have earned six playoff berths and three NFC North titles in seven years. The 46-year-old LaFleur has gone 76-40-1 in the regular season. Though his 3-5 mark in the playoffs is underwhelming, LaFleur’s .654 regular-season winning percentage ranks 16th on the all-time list.

The LaFleur-led Packers have successfully transitioned from future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, who looks as if he’ll be the franchise’s third consecutive long-term answer under center. Hall of Famer Brett Favre held the reins from 1992-2007, Rodgers from 2008-2022, and Love has emerged as a quality starter over the past three years. He finished top 10 in the NFL in 2025 in QBR (tied for second), passer rating (sixth) and yards per attempt (eighth).

Love has been MIA since suffering a concussion in a loss to the Bears in Week 16. He was healthy enough to play in Week 18, but with Green Bay locked into the seventh seed, LaFleur rested him. The Packers, once 9-3-1, will go into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. Even if the skid extends to five with a season-ending loss in Chicago, it appears LaFleur is safe. That means John Harbaugh, a rumored candidate to land in Green Bay in the event of a LaFleur firing, will have to look elsewhere.

12 comments Green Bay Packers

Dolphins To Hire Jon-Eric Sullivan As GM

By | at January 9, 2026 11:11 pm

The Dolphins were known to be nearing a hire for their general manager position. The process of finding Chris Grier‘s replacement is now complete.

Miami is hiring Jon-Eric Sullivan to fill the GM role, as first reported by Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Sullivan was among the four finalists for the position and loomed as a strong candidate to get the nod. Now, his attention will turn to playing a key role in the Dolphins’ head coaching search.

This move represents the first time Sullivan will hold a position outside of Green Bay. The former Packers intern spent more than two decades with the franchise, working his way through the ranks of both the scouting and personnel departments. Sullivan was promoted to VP of player personnel in 2022, and he regularly found himself on the radar of teams seeking a new GM during recent hiring cycles. Troy Aikman (brought in as a consultant for this search) was Sullivan’s top supporter, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports.

Now, 2026 will see Sullivan take charge of an NFL team for the first time. He will become a central figure in Miami’s organizational reset. The team fired head coach Mike McDaniel yesterday in a move which came as a surprise to many. The Dolphins’ intent remained to fill the GM position in short order before focusing on the process of finding McDaniel’s replacement. That search will be one of eight around the league.

Owner Stephen Ross will have the final say on a HC hire, but Sullivan – who interviewed virtually with the Dolphins on Tuesday before taking part in an in-person meeting yesterday – will of course be involved as well. Once a move is finalized on that front, the team’s new group of decision-makers will face a number of important roster questions. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa faces an uncertain future, as does receiver Tyreek Hill.

Having spent his entire career to date in Green Bay, Sullivan has clear ties to a pair of 2026 head coaching candidates: Mike McCarthy and Jeff Hafley. The former spent last season out of coaching while the latter is one of several highly-regarded defensive coordinators set to receive HC interest. The possibility of Miami targeting McCarthy and/or Hafley over the coming days will be worth watching closely.

After Grier’s firing, Champ Kelly was handed interim GM duties. He progressed to the final stage of interviews for the full-time gig, but with an outside hire having been made Kelly may soon depart for a new opportunity elsewhere. Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander and 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams have also become runners-up for the role, so they will turn their attention elsewhere. At this point, the Falcons represent the only other general manager vacancy in the NFL.

Over the course of Grier’s lengthy tenure in Miami’s front office, the team’s drought for playoff wins extended to 25 years and counting. Ending that league-leading mark (along with a two-year run of losing records) will of course be a critical goal for Miami’s new power structure once it is in place. Sullivan is in position to be a leading figure in that regard for years to come.

14 comments Green Bay Packers Miami Dolphins Newsstand

Bills, Packers On Radar For John Harbaugh?

By | at January 8, 2026 10:58 pm

When six non-Ravens HC openings existed, a report indicated seven teams reached out to John Harbaugh within minutes of his firing. Seven non-Baltimore openings are now present, with the Dolphins firing Mike McDaniel today. Another report, however, indicated as many as nine teams had contacted Harbaugh before the Miami development.

A Wednesday report indicated a push from a team playing in the wild-card round is a rumor floating out there, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio pinpoints two potentially interested clubs. The Bills and Packers are viewed by some around the league as teams to monitor with regards to lurking Harbaugh suitors.

Some other teams playing in the first round should not be completely disqualified from Harbaugh pursuits in the event of one-and-done playoff journeys, but Florio mentions Buffalo and Green Bay as the two being discussed the most. The Bills have employed Sean McDermott since 2017, and he has guided them to eight playoff berths. Matt LaFleur was a 2019 hire; he has missed the playoffs only one time since coming over from Tennessee.

LaFleur, though, may not be completely safe. The seventh-year Packers HC may need to win his first-round game to feel “completely” safe, per Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, citing a feeling around the NFL on this situation. LaFleur is under contract through 2026, via the extension he signed in July 2022. New Packers president Ed Policy came out against lame-duck HCs, meaning a decision will need to be made on an extension before the 2026 season — and likely much earlier. Neither LaFleur nor GM Brian Gutekunst were extended before this season.

Green Bay successfully transitioned from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love under LaFleur. While Love has not flashed MVP-level form like Rodgers did by his third season at the controls, the successor has accounted himself well. Love finished third in QBR this season, finishing with 23 touchdown passes and six interceptions while averaging 7.7 yards per attempt. This came as the Packers played much of the season without Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft. The fast-emerging tight end’s unavailability has hurt the team’s passing attack, and the Packers’ defense has been without Micah Parsons since Week 15. LaFleur’s bunch sunk to 9-7-1, though the team did not play starters in Week 18.

The Pack booked three straight playoff byes from 2019-21 under LaFleur, venturing to two NFC championship games in that span. LaFleur’s decision to kick a field goal down eight in the final minutes of an NFC title game loss to the Buccaneers backfired, and his team went one-and-done as the No. 1 seed a year later. Although the Packers upset the No. 2-seeded Cowboys in Love’s first playoff game and then pushed the No. 1-seeded 49ers a week later, they lost to the Eagles in Round 1 last year. Though, the Eagles stampeding through the playoffs to a Super Bowl title did not make that loss look too bad.

The Bills are in a somewhat similar situation. LaFleur actually has as many conference championship game appearances as McDermott, despite the latter leading Josh Allen-led rosters for eight of his nine seasons. The Bills lost divisional-round games in three straight years before edging the Ravens to reach the AFC championship game last season.

Buffalo’s defense has regularly underwhelmed in marquee games against Kansas City, despite the AFC East powerhouse dominating that series in the regular season, and Allen (25:4 playoff TD:INT ratio) faces the prospect of turning 30 next year without a Super Bowl berth on his resume.

Harbaugh, 63, would seemingly be a fit for both teams due to neither being in rebuilding mode. The same cannot be said for a handful of the current lot of HC-needy teams. He will not take any interviews until next week, with Florio pointing to that timetable as matching up with the potential openings that could emerge after this weekend’s games. Harbaugh’s looming presence adds intrigue to the Packers and Bills’ opening-round contests.

As for the latest team to create a coaching vacancy, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero and the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson note the Dolphins have not reached out to Harbaugh yet. It would stand to reason that it is only a matter of time before that happens, however. But the Bills and/or the Packers entering this race could throw a wrench into other, less successful teams’ HC plans.

68 comments Buffalo Bills Green Bay Packers Miami Dolphins

Falcons, Cardinals Request HC Interviews With Packers’ Jeff Hafley

By | at January 8, 2026 8:55 pm

Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has emerged as a popular candidate in this year’s head coaching carousel. The Falcons and Cardinals have requested interviews with Hafley, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. The Titans were the first club to request a meeting with the 46-year-old.

With the Packers preparing to face the Bears in a wild-card round matchup on Saturday, Hafley can’t interview with anyone until next week. His defense, which ranked 11th in scoring and 12th in yards during the regular season, helped the Packers to the postseason. They’ll enter the playoffs shorthanded, though, after superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15. In his first season under Hafley, the former Cowboy produced 12.5 sacks in 14 games.

With Parsons’ season over, he may have played his last game in Hafley’s defense. That’s assuming another team hires Hafley as its head coach. While Hafley doesn’t have head coaching experience at the NFL level, he did lead Boston College from 2020-23. BC went 22-26 and made trips to two bowl games during that four-year span.

Hafley, previously an assistant with the Buccaneers, Browns and 49ers, returned to the pros in 2024. The Packers’ defense ranked fifth in scoring and sixth in yards last year, which earned Hafley a head coaching interview with the Jets. They went on to hire Aaron Glenn instead.

A year after the Jets passed on him, Hafley will have more chances to convince teams he’s worthy of his first head coaching job in the pros. He’d be the second straight defensive-minded hire for Atlanta or Arizona. The Falcons sputtered to a 16-18 record in two years under Raheem Morris, who’s also among Arizona’s HC candidates. The Cardinals gave Jonathan Gannon the ax after he posted a disastrous 15-36 mark in three seasons.

0 comments Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Green Bay Packers

Titans Request HC Interviews With Arthur Smith, Jeff Hafley

By | at January 8, 2026 1:22 pm

The Titan have submitted requests to interview Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, per Titans inside Paul Kuharsky.

Smith, 43, spent most of his coaching career in Tennessee. He started as a quality control assistant in 2011 with a season on both sides of the ball before spending six years working with the Titans’ tight ends. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019 and took a bottom 10 offense to top-12 ranks in points and yards in his debut season. Smith then led a top-five unit in 2020, which got him hired as the Falcons’ head coach the following offseason. He went 7-10 in three straight season in Atlanta and was fired in 2024. Mike Tomlin picked him up as the Steelers’ OC, but Smith has not found the same success as his time in Tennesee. Pittsburgh’s offense has ranked among the NFL’s bottom 10 teams in points and finished in the middle of the pack in terms of yardage.

Hiring Smith does not have obvious appeal outside of a reunion with a former coach. He does not have a strong history of working with young quarterbacks, a key part of the Titans’ current search, and his success has primarily come in the run game. Cam Ward has good movement skills, but he was not a dual-threat quarterback at Miami and will not be one in the NFL. His connections with Tomlin and Mike Vrabel could help him land a solid defensive coordinator.

Hafley, 46, has quickly risen up the list of hot coaching candidates after two successful years in Green Bay. His coaching career began in college in 2021 with stints at a variety of schools before moving to the NFL in 2012. He coached defensive backs in Tampa Bay (2012-2013), Cleveland (2014-2015), and San Francisco (2016-2018) before accepting a co-DC gig at Ohio State. Boston College hired Hafely as their next head coach in 2020; four years later, he took his current position with the Packers. In his debut year in Green Bay, Hafley led the team to a top-six finish in points and yards before taking a step back to a top-12 ranking this season.

Hiring a defensive-minded head coach to lock down one side of the ball while searching for a young OC to word with Ward seems like a viable strategy for the Titans, especially given this year’s hiring cycle. There are far more potential head coaches on the defensive side of the ball with a number of young offensive assistants who may be ready for an OC job.

11 comments Green Bay Packers Pittsburgh Steelers Tennessee Titans

2026 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 7, 2026 9:50 pm

The Browns, Cardinals, Falcons and Raiders followed the Giants and Titans in firing head coaches, making those calls between the Week 18 conclusion and Black Monday. The Ravens then moved on from John Harbaugh after 18 seasons; two days later, the Dolphins canned Mike McDaniel. Here are the candidates connected to all eight of the HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-10-26 (3:50pm CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

10 comments Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Denver Broncos Green Bay Packers Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New York Giants PFR Originals Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/7/26

By | at January 7, 2026 6:57 pm

Today’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

Pittsburgh Steelers

Richardson, Christian, Lewis, Wallace, Maye, and Flowers all cleared waivers after being cut from their respective teams earlier this week. They’ll all return to those teams via new practice squad deals.

1 comment Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Denver Broncos Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Los Angeles Chargers Pittsburgh Steelers Transactions

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/7/26

By | at January 7, 2026 6:30 pm

Wednesday’s midweek minor moves:

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

In Green Bay, head coach Matt LaFleur relayed that Melton doesn’t have a torn ACL, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but his knee injury is just going to take some time to recover. Meanwhile, the Chargers and Seahawks look to return two role players to offenses as they ready for their first playoff games.

The 21-day practice windows have come and gone for McLeod and Willams. Without an activation, both players will return to their respective injured lists.

0 comments Green Bay Packers Jacksonville Jaguars Los Angeles Chargers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Transactions

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/6/26

By | at January 6, 2026 10:48 pm

While many teams are making major decisions on head coaches, those remaining in the playoffs are still tweaking their practice squads before the wild-card round this weekend. Here are the latest updates:

Green Bay Packers

  •  Signed: WR Julian Hicks, WR Kisean Johnson, TE Messiah Swinson

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

0 comments Green Bay Packers Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams New England Patriots Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers Transactions

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/6/26

By | at January 6, 2026 8:46 pm

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Set to host the Rams in the wild-card round on Saturday, the Panthers have opened Zavala’s 21-day practice window. That will at least give Zavala a chance to return this week. Zavala has been on IR twice this year – once for a knee injury, again for a calf problem – which limited him to seven games and five starts during the regular season. He hasn’t played since Week 12.

The Packers rested starting quarterback Jordan Love in their regular-season finale against the Vikings. Backup Malik Willis was unavailable because of shoulder and hamstring issues, which led to Tune receiving his second NFL start. It went poorly for the 26-year-old Tune, who completed 6 of 11 passes for 34 yards in a 16-3 loss. Ridder, who combined for 18 starts with the Falcons and Raiders from 2022-24, will replace Tune on the Packers’ roster as they prepare for a playoff showdown with the rival Bears.

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