Yotam from Israel

My understanding is Russ Ball is the "money guy" of the organization, so who handles his contract? Does he sit at both sides of the tables, and just changes shirts, à la Tom Grossi video?

This crowd's always got something.

Keith from Bakersfield, CA

Congratulations to Mike LaFleur on getting the HC gig in Arizona! Besides the Harbaughs, what other brothers have held HC jobs at the same time in the NFL? When is the next time GB is scheduled to play Arizona?

The Grudens (Jon and Jay) were head coaches at the same time with the Raiders and Redskins, respectively. Any other brother pairs would've been before my time. The Packers will visit Arizona in 2027.

Steve from Land O'Lakes, FL

After reading about Green Bay extending staff contracts, I was wondering if HCs, GMs, DCs, OCs, and such have agents like the players do?

For the most part, yes.

Richard from Caledonia, WI

How many year extension for the coach and GM?

I don't know, and the organization doesn't divulge those details. We can surmise based on the announcement of "multi-year" extensions, and the fact Gutey and LaFleur each had one year left on their previous deals, they're both under contract for at least the next three seasons, and possibly more.

Michael from Lakewood, CO

Jim Leonhard is finally getting his chance as a DC for the Bills. Hope he does well especially with the changes occurring in Buffalo. Somewhat disappointed that the timing didn't work out to get more serious consideration for GB.

Nature of the business sometimes.

Mark from West Bend, WI

Well, I guess now both the Buffalo and Miami home games this fall will have some interesting subplots.

Indubitably.

Bryan from Madison, WI

I'm seeing a trend with how MLF is rebuilding the defensive staff. A former HC is now our DC. Two former DCs (Buffalo and Virginia Tech) are now our pass game coordinator and LB coach, respectively. Hiring folks that have experience with broad responsibilities seems like an area of emphasis and a different approach than I have seen in the past. Is this truly somewhat out of the ordinary, or am I simply noticing it now because it's GB?

Probably more the latter. Not that it's super common around here, but there have been former NFL head coaches as defensive coordinators (Dom Capers, Mike Pettine) and former coordinators as position coaches (Mike Trgovac, DeMarcus Covington).

Sam from Columbia, MO

When teams are interviewing coaches, what sort of questions do they ask? Are teams more focused on the football skills/IQ a candidate brings to the table? Or are they looking for somebody who fits the culture? Or a mix of both? Evaluating talent seems very difficult, and I'm sure that includes coaches as well.

Fitting the culture certainly counts, but if I were to boil it down to the top two items being explored in interviews, I'd say vision and leadership. Both of those encompass a lot and aren't mutually exclusive, but coaches who make a strong impression in those two areas rise to the top of hiring lists.

Bil from Stateline, NV

I'm a little surprised, Mike, that you didn't include the Packers of the '60s in your list of teams who's (whom's?) offense took what they wanted.

It's whose, and I was only referencing teams specifically from Vic's sportswriting career.

Tom from Nolanville, TX

Happy Monday Insiders, regarding Mike's Sat. discussion on NFL vs. MLB HOF inductions and number of players voted in, I think you have to consider the difference in roster sizes between the two sports and the fact the MLB does not celebrate HOF inductions with an exhibition game, a made-for-TV induction ceremony nor the surprise knock on the door. It's a total made-for-TV weekend saga. Since the days of John Facenda and Art Sabol, the NFL continues to thrive on the drama the fans love.

All true, and quite frankly – personal opinion here – Canton needs more than just the museum to get people to visit, because football was very poor at recording its history and preserving artifacts for the first 40 years or more. Baseball's museum in Cooperstown blows it away and is reason enough to visit whether or not anything else is going on there.

Dave from Waterford, OH

Mike, allow me to offer this rebuttal concerning player acquisitions. Save for Micah Parsons, whom we traded for, for the most part, the Packers DO NOT fill out their roster with key free agent signings. We wait until the top-notch guys are gone. We didn't trade for Beast Mode because we would've had to offer better than fourth- (2011) and fifth- (2012) round picks. Unbelievable! I could cite numerous examples. We typically sign second-tier guys. Those other teams attack the system. Does it always work? No!

If you're going to continue to live in the Thompson era, I can't help you. The Smith Bros., Adrian Amos and Billy Turner were all signed the first day or two of free agency in 2019. Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney were at the top of their position groups in 2024. When draft-and-develop hasn't provided enough, Gutey has spent big money to fill holes. No GM can do that every year, because he'll wind up in cap jail, and teams that do it often don't have enough of their own guys worth re-signing, which means their drafts weren't good enough.

Dale from Prescott, WI

I think one negative of drafting heavy at one position in the same year is their contracts all come due the same time and ya can't keep everyone.

Making hard decisions is better than making easy ones.

Richard from Greenwich, NY

Good morning, given the absence of a No. 1 draft pick and likelihood of extra compensatory Round 7 picks, I expect energetic trading by GB in the '26 draft. Maybe bundle lower picks for an additional second-round choice.

I think folks need to disabuse themselves of the notion the Packers might trade up in April's draft. Another second-rounder? That probably would require packaging their third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks, based on chart value. Trading down for more picks is FAR more likely.

Allen from Fairhope, AL

II: I know Packers scouts watch the Senior Bowl carefully. Do you think that the frigid weather in Mobile Saturday might gives extra insight to northern NFL teams that play in outdoor stadia?

Not much. Evaluations at the Senior Bowl are much more focused on the week of practices than the actual game anyway.

Gary from Davenport, IA

I have enjoyed the postseason this year other than one obvious game. Not only have most of the games been close, but it dawned on me that all of them will have been played outdoors. I read somewhere that it's been 23 years since that occurred. With more teams looking at domes, this might become even rarer. Is there anything better than watching a football game being played in the snow?

Weather games are the best. They just are. Easy for me to say sitting in a press box, I realize.

Don from Boise, ID

Was thinking about the playoffs and some of the big plays on special teams and defense we saw, in particular, Shaheed's opening kickoff return seemed to set the tone for that game. Then I thought, I cannot remember the last time the Packers had a kick, interception or fumble returned for a touchdown. How long has it been and how important was it in the tide of that game?

In '24, Alexander had a pick-six at Tennessee. In '23, Savage had a pick-six in the playoffs at Dallas, Owens had a scoop-and-score at Detroit on Thanksgiving, and Quay Walker had a pick-six in the opener at Chicago. In '22, Campbell had a pick-six at Washington and Keisean Nixon returned a kickoff to the house vs. Minnesota.

Aaron from Madison, WI

The NFL's final four teams all ranked in the top five in explosive play differential (SEA 1st, LAR 2nd, NE 4th, DEN 5th). The Pack was 3rd. Next year could be good.

They just need more to go with their ability to both make and prevent explosives. Maybe it's takeaways, or field position, or health, or something else, or a little bit of all of the above.

Ross from Summerville, SC

Gents, the leadership of a veteran like Kenny Clark was what I believe was sorely missed even more than his play last season. Is there a vet on this team that is the voice to keep the team on task?

I think the Packers have plenty, but a bunch of them were on IR when the season ended. As I mentioned before, down the stretch the Packers weren't missing solely high-level play from their injured players.

Terry from Green Bay, WI

Good morning, Coach Mike. One of my favorite plays from 2023 was Luke Musgrave's first career TD. Out of the shotgun, Jordan Love fakes a screen to the left, spins around, fakes a screen to the right, then hits Musgrave in the seam for the TD. The play worked perfectly. So my question is, why would a play that worked so well never get used again? Thanks coach.

If memory serves, I've seen the Packers try that play again at least twice. One time, the protection didn't hold up and Love had to bolt the pocket. Another time, the middle seam was covered and he sent the ball elsewhere.

Joe from Swansea, IL

According to my math, which could be wrong (ATMM, wcbw), the salary cap had risen 67.5% in the last five years, if published reports are accurate. Is this kind of growth sustainable? If so, must it come on the imposition of the 18th regular-season game? Or are those two separate topics?

They go hand in hand. More games means more product to sell to the networks, which means bigger broadcast contracts as well as greater opportunities to cut deals with streaming services, etc.

Shilo from Wildomar, CA

Look, the owners are gonna get 18 games in 2030. So, if I'm the players, I'm demanding about five to 10 less plays per game. ADD five seconds to the play clock before the last five minutes of the first and second halves, and SUBTRACT five seconds from the play clock for the last five minutes of the first and second halves. Less plays, so less wear and tear, but more drama and plays in crunch time.

They aren't going to mess with the game itself that much, if at all. The owners will have to fork over a larger cut of the overall revenue and/or provide even more restrictions/reductions to the offseason program than they conceded in the last round of negotiations. The owners lose no money cutting back on offseason commitments, but those mean something to the players.

Kerry from Lakewood Ranch, FL

Your take on the 2026 schedule? Playing the NFC South and the Jets and Dolphins is a plus in my opinion.

We'll see. In the NFC South, the Falcons may be hitting the reset button, but the Panthers and Saints have young, rising QBs in place, and the Bucs still have Baker Mayfield. The Dolphins? I expect Sully and Hafley to have that team going places soon enough.

Ben from Fort Worth, TX

Mike, there is a substantial travel difference for the SB game. How much of a factor do you think the travel for the Pats will be? I've seen there are stats that favor the West team in these scenarios (especially night games). But I have also seen that this is a myth. I also remember that that the Packers haven't done so well on the West Coast in the last decade or so. Do you think the Pats will/should travel earlier for this game as they will have had two weeks to prepare?

For the Super Bowl, it's irrelevant. By rule, both teams will have arrived in the Bay Area by this afternoon (if not there already) will be there all week.

Jeff from Champlin, MN

Mike, who wins Sunday, why and what specific key part of their game do you desire for our squad?

I expect the Seahawks to win because down the stretch they've needed to be the better team in the fourth quarter more often than the Patriots. I fully expect the game to come down to crunch time, so it could certainly go either way.

Dan from Wausau, WI

Saw an article on PFT with comments from NFL chief football administrative officer Dawn Aponte indicating in the offseason the league will "explore the possibility of using replay to call penalties for safety-related infractions that the officials miss during the live action." Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance for the blue in Mike's face to fade before he retires.

I'm not holding my breath. Ha, and with that I'd better see myself out. Happy Monday.

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