It looks like the coaching cycle for the 2026 offseason will not be gaining yet another sacrifice after Wild Card weekend.
After the Green Bay Packers lost a heartbreaker to the Chicago Bears, relinquishing a huge lead late in the game and giving up the chance to upset their NFC North foe on the road, there were a lot of questions swirling around the fate of Matt LaFleur. The seventh-year head coach just got dealt another blow in the postseason, failing to wash off the aura of a choking squad for another year.
His firing could've created a coaching vacancy vacuum that impacted the Detroit Lions inadvertently: the Packers could've landed a veteran, winning coach in John Harbaugh, leading to another squad poaching the perfect OC candidate in Mike McDaniel from Detroit's hands. Instead, it sounds like LaFleur is here to stay, and that should be a relief for Lions fans.
LaFleur surviving Wild Card weekend is a good thing for Lions
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, LaFleur and the Packers are expected to work out a new deal to keep the coach in Green Bay and away from the several current head coaching vacancies popping up in the NFL. Connor Hughes of SNY is also reporting today that the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons are seen as front runners to land Harbaugh.
This leaves just Kevin Stefanski and McDaniel on the market amongst the big names available for head coaching vacancies, although Klint Kubiak remains a hot name, as well. Hughes added to his report on Harbaugh that whichever team doesn't land Harbaugh will likely be where Stefanski lands, leaving McDaniel on the market, still.
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The Lions are set to interview him for their OC vacancy this week, but he's got interviews on the table for head coaching roles with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Falcons, and Tennessee Titans. He's another hot name, and with teams looking to get younger on their coaching staff, he's a perfect fit along that logic.
But, not many teams can say they have Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams on their roster, can they?
LaFleur's imminent re-signing with the Packers allows Detroit to continue to circle in on their top priorities at OC without another name added to the mix to throw things into an even bigger tizzy.
LaFleur would be an immediate top candidate for any head coaching role in the league, and while it's nice to imagine a world where the Lions don't have to deal with his smug style twice a year, him staying put is actually a good thing for Detroit's attempts to land an OC this offseason.