Plenty of changes have already taken place on the sidelines in the NFL with the regular season now complete, but it does not appear that Green Bay will be the site of much turnover in that regard. One exception could be a reunion with a familiar face. 
When speaking to the media, head coach Matt LaFleur said he is open to the possibility of former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett coming back to his staff. The latter left last offseason to become the Broncos’ head coach, a move which did not end well, to say the least. Hackett was fired before the season – his first as a bench boss – had come to an end with the Broncos falling well short of expectations, particularly on offense.
The 43-year-old had previously spent three seasons in Green Bay as the team’s OC, albeit one who did not call plays. The same is now true of Adam Stenavich, who, as ESPN’s Rob Demovsky notes, is expected to remain in his current post regardless of whether or not Hackett is brought back. A reunion is something which LaFleur said he has “definitely entertained” though he admitted that his evaluation process of the staff has only just begun.
One other noteworthy change which could come about as a result of that process is LaFleur ceding play-calling duties. Such a move is one he has considered in the past, but, in light of the team’s middling defensive performance and discipline issues, one which would allow him to address other areas of the team.
“As far as the playcalling’s concerned, yeah that’s crossed my mind in terms of I want to do whatever’s best for us to have success,” LaFleur said. “If we feel like that is the best way for us to win games, then I would 100% hand that over.”
As for defensive coordinator Joe Barry, LaFleur gave an endorsement in favor of his return in 2023. The Packers were expected to lean on the strength of their defense more so this season than previous ones in no small part due to the team’s continued investment on that side of the ball. The unit finished the campaign ranked 17th in both points (21.8) and yards (337) allowed per game, though their secondary fared better than those overall statistics suggest. Despite Barry’s performance coming under fire during Green Bay’s five-game losing streak in particular, LaFleur reiterated that he expects Barry to be retained.
“I don’t really anticipate a whole lot, if any staff changes at all,” LaFleur said. “I do believe in the people, not only in the locker room, but our coaching staff… It’s my intention to try and have everybody back. I think continuity is a big part of having success in this league.”
After an 8-9 season which ended without a playoff berth, many questions will be asked this offseason in Green Bay. If LaFleur has his way, however, significant alterations to his staff will not be forthcoming.
Looks like no Leonhard to GB. You packer fans are stuck with Berry for another season lol
They didn’t win like 5 in a row at the end and come up short because of bad D. I think Berry, for whatever reason, is an easy scapegoat here. Sure, they started off pretty slow but I think that had more to do with the D being on the field quite a bit more than they wanted because the offense was so bad.
Because he’s not a good DC. He cannot create pressure and his entire philosophy is to sit in nickel, drop 7 in coverage, play off(Even on 4th and 2 and the season on the line, he had his DBs line up 7 yards off the LOS).
This despite the fact that he has 2 of the BEST press man corners in the NFL. Eric Stokes as a ROOKIE was ranked #1 in press man.
Jaire-His reputation precedes him.
And Leonhard comes with MUCH more creative and unique blitzes while playing an aggressive style of defense. That he never had great CBs at UW, but still consistently had an elite D(#1 overall during a 5 year stretch)…
One blitz in particular stands out. He was in Nickel. Brought the MLBers up, had them mug the A gaps. At the snap, the OLBers dropped into the flats, safties came up and played in the middle hook zones, the DEs rushed wide and took the tackles out of it and the MLBers(Chenel and Sandborn) took off on a stunt, the left LBer Chenel crossing in front of Sandborn and rushing rushing over the LT(so the opposite side you’d expect) and Sandborn over the RT).
But by the time they got there, the tackles were just passing Benton and Mullins off and Chenel and Sandborn blew past them and got a 16 yard sack…vs OSU.
Brilliant.
Barry is uninspired and there’s a reason his defenses in his first 4 years ranked dead last twice and then 19th and 17th in the other two years.
He’s not good. And I don’t call for Coaches to be fired. It’s usually not that easy to tell who the problem is. With the Packers defense, it’s that easy.
BOTH years about 8 weeks in MLF had to publicly implore Barry to play more “sticky” with his DBs and “create” more pressure. And FINALLY then he started to change…and then they started playing better.
Waaaay too much talent to be so F-ing average.
move on from Aaron. That is one move
You must be a Bears fan
I don’t think there’s a realistic way to move on from Rodgers and take less than a $30 million cap hit next year, so they’d better either have no choice, get a great return, feel good about Jordan Love, or some combination.
There’s EVERY “realistic” way to move on from Rodgers and take less than a 30M cap hit next year.
But…who cares even if it WAS a 30M cap hit? His cap hit if he’s on the team is ~31M.
IF-IF the Packers wanted to just make the trade now so they could go into the draft with picks and get rid of Rodgers, they’d have to clear 9M more to do a pre-June 1st cap hit.
40M in dead cap(he costs 31M anyway, so 9M difference).
Or they split that into 2.
Post June 1 and he has a ~14M cap hit in ’23(savings of ~17M vs the cap) and a ~24M cap hit in ’24(Savings of over 16M cap hit for GB).
So post June 1 they take on a 40M dead cap hit rather than the ~72M in cap hits the next 2 years combined and they’re out from under it.
Keep him and they pay have 72M in cap hits over ’23 and ’24 and they’re still on the hook for the 60M option in ’25.
So when it comes to trading Rodgers, the immediate cap hit is inconsequential…but it COULD provide massive long term savings and it could net the Packer TWO 1st round picks.
So 2 1sts+clear the cap hits if you let him go, OR if you keep him, you pay 30M more the next two years vs the cap.
It’s eminently realistic.
And they said they feel good about Love.
In fact, they said they’ve already decided to pick up his 5th year option.
Love is ahead of where Rodgers was at the same point in each players respective careers.
Hey, if the team says they feel good about the first round QB they’ve continually buried, it must be true, right?
Love’s mentor or play calling to be dismissed by AR12?
I figured the late season improvement by the defense would get Barry another year. The sad part is, he’ll deviate back to his old ways and the D will stink again in ’23, and the only move they can make then is to can him and promote 1 of his assistants. Nothing like repeating the same mistake over and over.
And meanwhile they have Leonhard in their backyard. I’d laugh if he went to the Vikings or even Illinois
I’m no coach, but I’ve been managing people and teams for over 30 years, and it seems pretty clear the whole organization has difficulty with confrontation. They’re trying to be too nice and dancing around poor personal performance across the board, but starting with LaFleur. Rodgers should’ve been at every OTA, personnel meeting, hell he should’ve helped move the new guys in! Barry should’ve dropped the zone coverage and let one of the best secondary groups in the NFC play to their skills. If they allow mediocre play and output, you get an 8-9 season. You plant tomatoes, you get tomatoes. They all need to go, along with Rodgers, and rebuild a foundation of personal pride the Packers way. Until then, it’ll be rinse and repeat.
It seems like GB always is hesitant to dump deadweight. Barry’s defense had 1 solid game all season against Minnesota. Beyond that, soft zone reactive defense that can’t stop the run. Keeping Barry will be another year of wasting talented players.
I support LaFluer, but if he’s gonna keep his buddies around while they fail, then it’s time he goes too. And take the GM with you
Glad to see one head coach with a steady head. The down season was mostly the result of taking away Aaron Rodgers number one weapon (Davante Adams) and leaving him with a fairly empty cupboard. Watson turned out to be surprisingly good but Rodgers receivers were dropping some easy passes on him in 2022, which led to Aaron sulking for six games or so. I’m not condeming Rodgers – in his shoes anyone would be annoyed at the fecklessness of the front office.
Trading Rodgers would probably be a good idea for everyone at this point, but I don’t know a single team who could take on his salary cap and continue to prosper. Acquiring Rodgers to lose half your defensive stars and your best WR due to salary cap issue is no more a solution for another team as for Green Bay.
No team in their right mind would trade for him. 40 yr old in 2023 and making 60 million next 2 years. Lol No team will trade for him
We’re not looking for a team in their right mind, we’re looking for a trade partner/impetuous owner who wants to make a big splash and have 4 x MVP Aaron Rodgers play a couple of seasons for his club. Owners like Jim Irsay, Cal McNair and Dan Snyder have pulled stunts like this.
You’re not paying attention. There are going to be MULTIPLE teams vying for his services. 40 years old and QBs barely get hit anymore. He has 2-3 good years left.
The Jets oner has ALREADY said he would be “more than happy” to trade multiple 1st round picks for Aaron Rodgers.”
Rodgers cap hit for the Jets would be
2023-~15M
2024-~24M(this is the year the cap will jump up at LEAST 40M as the NFLPA will have repaid Covid losses and it’ll no longer be paying back the ~100M they were spreading out over 3 years, PLUS the next 110B TV deal kicks in, PLUS the 3B(up from 1B) a year annually in the Redzone ticket which Apple and Prime are currently bidding over.
Every NFL team will get ~400M day one of the ’23 league year and that’s before a single ticket, jersey, beer, parking stub or any sponsorships). By ’25 that number could hit ~500M.
So plenty of teams will want him. He was the BACK-TO-BACK MVP and then he lost his top 2 WRers, Bakh and Jenkins dealt with knee injuries, and he had all rookie WRers who couldn’t stay healthy, PLUS a broken thumb(Avulsion fracture which is particularly painful) as well as torn cartilage in his ribs) and a sprained knee.
He’s got 2-3-4 years left of playing at an elite level…if he so desires. If he desires, plenty of teams will want him. This is clearly established.
I’m a big Aaron Rodgers fan but he doesn’t look like he has two or three elite years left. Rodgers is aging quickly (some age faster, some age slower). Hope I’m wrong. Certainly would sell a lot of tickets in NY, at least for the first season.
Trade Rodgers for Derek Carr
If Barry is returning he should change up his scheme a bit. Soft zone wasn’t cutting it and the Packers left too much space open in the middle of the field which hurt them all season. Not to mention they’ve been bad against the run since he’s been there.
I really really hope Barry doesn’t come back.
Hackett is a joke
The Packers LED THE LEAGUE in most dropped passes in 2022 (30). The team that dropped the least passes? Atlanta (9).
Perhaps the problem isn’t the coaching staff at all…
Here’s how valuable that stat is…
The Packers led the league in most dropped passes. They finished 8-9. The Falcons had the fewest dropped passes. They finished 7-10.
Yup, the ONLY correlation to be made with that is each team’s final record. Because every dropped pass by both teams occurred on a meaningless 6 yard route on 3rd and 25, where even if caught the receiver would have absolutely been tackled, or pushed or ran out of bounds immediately.
Something tells me if GB pass catchers actually pull in half those drops, it might have added 2-3 more wins to their total. Atlanta probably doesn’t benefit much if they cut their number to 4 or 5 for the year. So yeah, I think that stat may be a tad more valuable than you want to believe.
Surprised his brother wouldn’t be on radar to join GB staff. if I remember correctly, he had interest before but was blocked from interviewing.
That rumor is out there now, as well. I don’t think it makes sense to bring Hackett back unless..or until they know..Rodgers is there next year. Hackett is his guy, not Lafleur or Love’s.
As for the other Lafleur, I don’t know enough about him to form an opinion either way.
LaFleur is overrated and too tight to the vest. If Barry is coming back, he had better figure out the D’s early season shortcomings and what changed later in the year. If AR12 is comes back for next season. The GB front office had better figure out how to put a quality veteran WR on the roster.