NFL

Parks Talk: To Trade or Not to Trade Matt LaFleur?

ballervisions 2026年1月17日

As it stands now, it appears we are in the middle of a highly anticipated showdown 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 biggest agents on the coaching side of things in the industry, doesn’t have a number another team is willing to pay, then he’s not doing his job – now that we’re six days removed from losing to the Packers at the end of the season.

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

I’d like to back off that the potential buyout isn’t monetary, however, considering there’s no compelling reason for Green Bay to sign LaFleur to a long-term contract, just in case things go sour. I get that it’s not a cash flow issue per year, but most teams in the league are offering four or five year deals (which LaFleur seems to be pushing for if you include the current season where he’s under contract in 2026) without a 100 percent commitment to see it through.

Hell, the Las Vegas Raiders hired Chip Kelly to be their offensive coordinator for $6 million a year last season. That $18 million, three-year, guaranteed contract was blown when he was fired in November. You always have the option to rotate, as long as you are willing to pay for it.

It is not a wise idea – I won’t get used to it – but also let’s not pretend that purchasing power is a death sentence (otherwise, teams won’t sign contracts for so long). Not only are the Raiders, historically considered a poor team because their main source of income is their ownership and has always come from owning a football team, paying for Kelly’s purchase, but they will have four head coaches and three general managers on the payroll all at the same time, according to ESPN.

According to Silverstein’s sources, Jeff Hafley’s potential contract, if he becomes head coach, could come in at about $1 million more per year than Kelly’s deal in Las Vegas, for that matter.

Ultimately, the Packers will have to decide whether or not to waive LaFleur’s contract. By all accounts, they believe he will be the best coach available on the market and want him back in 2026. Besides, they will already be in the market negotiating with head coaches, like other teams that have made a change in this position this year.

If they can’t reach the extension LaFleur and his camp want to sign, it seems like the next logical step would be for him to be traded (trying to hire assistants when a head coach has a one-year deal is difficult at the NFL level, and a big reason why lame duck seasons are so rare) since he seems to have a market.

Below are some examples of coaching that have occurred in NFL history:

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

Shula, Parcells, Gruden and Arians won rings from the teams they sold to, and Holmgren made the Super Bowl but lost. Payton’s Broncos are the top seed in the AFC right now, but we’ll have to wait and see how their season ends before adding him to the list of successful coaches.

So what do you guys think? Bring back LaFleur or trade? Is there any compensation you can claim? Turn off the sound in the comments section.