After Ed Policy succeeded Mark Murphy as the president and CEO of the Packers, it quickly became clear that 2025 would be an up-or-out season for coach Matt LaFleur and G.M. Brian Gutekunst.

Both had contracts running through 2026. Policy made it clear that he’s not a fan of lame-duck arrangements. So either they’d be extended or fired after the 2025 season.

Ultimately, the Packers made it to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the NFC, before blowing a 21-3 halftime lead against the Bears in the wild-card round.

That was enough, after a brief period of uncertainty, to get the Packers the give LaFleur and Gutekunst new contracts. Which, assuming that the deals guarantee one or more full seasons beyond 2026, complicates any consideration of firing either or both of them this year.

So what was the rush to extend them? There was a time when having a lame-duck coach undermined him, because the players may not respond in the desired way to a coach who may be gone after the season ends. And it’s possible that Ed Policy clings to that notion in part because his father, Carmen, firmly believed in that approach when he was running the 49ers and the Browns.

Nowadays, there’s a different reality in NFL locker rooms. Pro football has become a year-to-year reality, with continuity not guaranteed. The coach may be gone next year, and plenty of the players may be gone next year. All that matters is this year.

For the Packers, their coach and G.M. have a layer of job security they wouldn’t have enjoyed without the extensions. It takes off some of the pressure to perform at the highest possible level, especially because firing them — and buying out their contracts — becomes a challenge for a publicly-owned team that has been, through Policy, complaining about the financial realities of a league in which the other franchises can carve off slivers of equity for many millions in new revenue.

That doesn’t mean LaFleur and Gutekunst are safe. But, if they get fired, they’ll get their buyouts. And the Packers will have to pay them while also paying their replacements.

In hindsight, the right move would have been to press pause on the extensions. It’s a lesson both for Policy and for other owners who may end up on the fence as to the question of whether a contract should be extended in order to avoid having the coach or the G.M. work through the last year of their deals.

When in doubt, the best move may be to wait it out.