The Green Bay Packers have signed General Manager Brian Gutekunst, Head Coach Matt LaFleur and Executive Vice President/Director of Football Operations Russ Ball to multi-year contract extensions. President Ed Policy announced the extensions Friday.
“We are excited to extend our commitment to Brian, Matt and Russ as the leaders of our football operations. Their steadfast dedication, passion and collaboration have remained constant in our drive to compete at the highest level,” said Packers President and CEO Ed Policy. “While we are all disappointed with the way this season ended, we remain aligned in purpose and have spent considerable time over the past weeks collaborating on a path forward. I am exceedingly confident we have the right people to achieve our goal. The entire Packers organization looks forward to supporting every effort to bring our community and fans another championship that they very much deserve.”
Gutekunst, who was named the Packers’ 10th general manager in team history on Jan. 8, 2018, LaFleur, who was named Green Bay’s 15th head coach on Jan. 8, 2019, and Ball, who was named to his current position on Jan. 8, 2018, have led the Packers to six playoff appearances over the last seven years, tied with Kansas City and Philadelphia for the second-most postseason appearances in the NFL over that span (Buffalo, seven). Green Bay is one of four NFC teams and seven teams in the league to make it to multiple conference championships from 2019-25.
In 27 seasons with the team, Gutekunst has helped the Packers rank tied for No. 1 in the NFL in playoff appearances (19) and No. 2 in division titles (12), highlighted by six appearances in the NFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl title (XLV). The 2023 (weighted age of 25.58) and 2024 (25.72) teams were the two youngest playoff teams in the NFL from 1980-2024, per the Elias Sports Bureau. He led the build of teams that became the first in NFL history to post three consecutive 13-win seasons (2019-21), with the 39 victories ranking No. 1 in team history for a three-year span. Gutekunst has acquired 21 players who have earned Associated Press All-Pro honors, were named to the Pro Bowl/selected as alternates or were named to the PFWA All-Rookie team.
LaFleur has led the Packers to 76 regular-season wins so far in his career, tied with Paul Brown for No. 2 in NFL history for the most wins by a head coach in his first seven NFL seasons (George Seifert, 86). LaFleur has the fourth-highest regular-season winning percentage (76-40-1, .654) among active head coaches (min. 50 games). Dating back to 2019, the Packers have the third-best regular-season record in the NFL and the top mark in the NFC. Green Bay has four 11-plus-win seasons under LaFleur (2019-21, 2024), tied for the most in the NFC (Philadelphia and San Francisco, four) and tied for No. 3 in the NFL since 2019 (Buffalo and Kansas City, six / Baltimore, four). Since taking over as head coach in 2019, he has helped guide the Packers to top-10 rankings in total offense, scoring offense, giveaways, sacks allowed, third-down conversion percentage and red-zone TD efficiency, the only team in the league to finish in the top 10 in all six categories over that span.
Ball enters his 38th season in the NFL and 19th season in Green Bay, originally joining the Packers in 2008 in the role of the vice president of football administration/player finance. During his time with Green Bay, he has helped the Packers to a league-best 14 playoff appearances, eight NFC North crowns and a Super Bowl title (XLV). Prior to coming to Green Bay, Ball spent six seasons (2002-07) with the New Orleans Saints, serving as senior football administrator for four seasons and as vice president of football administration for the final two years. He also worked in the NFL for Washington (2001), Minnesota (1999-2000) and Kansas City (1989-98).
