Packers Discussion: To trade or not to trade Matt LaFleur?

As it stands now, it sure seems like we’re in the middle of a staring contest between Green Bay Packers president/CEO Ed Policy and Matt LaFleur’s agent, Trace Armstrong of Athletes First. At this point, if Armstrong, one of the bigger agents on the coaching side of things in the industry, doesn’t have a number that another team would be willing to pay, he wouldn’t be doing his job — as we’re now six days removed from the Packers’ season-ending loss.

Per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “The debate between the Packers and LaFleur’s agent isn’t as much about money as it is length, a pair of agents who have negotiated coaching contracts said.” If it’s just numbers, there’s only so much to talk about. It appears that we’re now in the “let’s wait and see if they are serious” phase of the negotiation.

I would like to push back that a potential buyout isn’t about money, though, considering nothing is forcing Green Bay to actually make LaFleur coach through a lengthy contract, should things turn sour. I get that it’s not a per-year cashflow issue, but plenty of teams in the league hand out four- or five-year deals (which is apparently what LaFleur is pushing for if you include the current season he’s under contract for in 2026) without absolutely 100 percent committing to see it through.

Hell, the Las Vegas Raiders hired Chip Kelly to be their offensive coordinator at $6 million per year last season. That $18 million three-year contract, guaranteed money, was thrown into the wind when he was fired in November. You always have the option to pivot, as long as you’re willing to pay for it.

It’s not a smart idea — I wouldn’t make a habit out of it — but let’s also not pretend that the potential for a buyout is a death sentence either (otherwise, teams would never sign contracts this long). Not only are the Raiders, historically viewed as a cash-poor team because their ownership’s primary source of income is and always has been from owning a football team, paying Kelly’s buyout, but they’re about to have four head coaches and three general managers on the payroll all at the same time, according to ESPN.

According to Silverstein’s sources, a potential Jeff Hafley contract, should he become head coach, would likely come in around $1 million more per year than Kelly’s deal in Las Vegas, for what that’s worth.

Ultimately, the Packers are going to have to decide whether to budge on the LaFleur contract or not. By all accounts, they believe that he would be the best coach available on the market and want him back in 2026. Otherwise, they would already be in the market interviewing potential head coaches, like the other teams that made a change at the position this year.

If they can’t reach an extension that LaFleur and his camp want to sign, it seems like the next logical step would be that he would be traded (attempting to hire assistants when the head coach is on a one-year deal is difficult at the NFL level, and one major reason why a lame duck season at head coach is extremely rare) since he seems to have a market.

Below are some examples of coaching trades that have previously happened in NFL history:

• Don Shula to Miami in 1970
  • Colts received a first-round pick (technically, this was a fine from the league).
• Bill Parcells to New York in 1997
  • Patriots received a first-, second-, third- and fourth-round pick along with $300,000 in cash.
• Mike Holmgren to Seattle in 1999
  • Packers received a second-round pick.
• Bill Belichick to New England in 2000
  • Jets received a first-round pick and swapped a fifth-round pick for a fourth-round pick, on top of a seventh-round pick swap.
• Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay in 2002
  • Raiders received two first-round picks, two second-round picks and $8,000,000 in cash.
• Herm Edwards to Kansas City in 2006
  • Jets received a fourth-round pick.
• Bruce Arians to Tampa Bay in 2019
  • Cardinals swapped a seventh-round pick for a sixth-round pick.
• Sean Payton to Denver in 2023
  • Saints received a first-round pick and swapped a third-round pick for a second-round pick.

Shula, Parcells, Gruden and Arians won rings for the teams that traded for them, while Holmgren made the Super Bowl but lost. Payton’s Broncos are the top seed in the AFC right now, but we’ll just have to wait and see how their season ends before adding him to the list of successful coaching trades.

So what do you guys think? Bring LaFleur back or trade him? Is there compensation that you would demand? Sound off in the comment section.