Let us go back to the last season. After Green Bay‘s Jordan Love got injured in Week 1, Malik Willis started two games against the Colts and Titans. That was just weeks after he was acquired for a seventh-round pick from the Titans. Sure, Love returned eventually to play against the Vikings in Week 4, but he wasn’t quite himself. Multiple injuries followed, and many wondered whether HC Matt LaFleur would consider using both quarterbacks in a game, but for different plays.

That didn’t happen… Instead, Willis played in Love’s absence, and the latter played whenever possible. The only exemption was in the final game of the regular season against the Bears. After Love got injured, coach LaFleur called a special play for Willis and also found a way to keep his starting QB on the field. It was a read option between Malik Willis and backup running back Emanuel Wilson while Love lined up out wide. On a 1st & 5, the QB carried the ball and advanced three yards in the middle. Now, here is an important question:

Why did the team not employ that strategy when Jordan Love was injured earlier in the season?

Well, coaches do struggle to take their QB1 off the field. Perhaps that’s the reason the HC let Love play whenever he could. But now, the situation is different. Willis is now a full part of the offense. He is set to have his first full training camp with the team. What’s intriguing about the QB is that he is a great runner—something that Jordan Love isn’t known for. Now, consider that FC Matt LaFleur is highly creative at designing plays, and Love is a great thrower and athletic, so together, the trio offers a lot of versatility. They could keep their fans and the opposition constantly guessing, as reported by A to Z Sports.

“There were definitely some wrinkles added,” LaFleur had said after the Colts game last season. “We have a variety of schemes. You have to give credit to (offensive coordinator) Adam Stenavich and all our coaches that came up with that run plan. The ability to put guys in certain positions, using our receivers in the running game, our tight ends blocking their butts off.” Perhaps he intends to bank on this success in the upcoming season.

But so far, it doesn’t look like Willis is a threat to Love’s QB1 position.

And LaFleur is not throwing in the towel on Love—far from it. “I feel pretty confident that we know what we have in Jordan, and we got a lot of confidence in him,” he said after minicamp last month. Still, confidence isn’t currency when wins are on the line. If 2025 mirrors 2024, Love won’t just be trending downward. He’ll be staring down a full-blown QB controversy.

Matt LaFleur’s contract talks on hold, pressure dialed up

As Matt LaFleur enters the 2025 season, he does so with a multi-year contract still in place but no guarantee beyond that. While it’s not uncommon for teams to reward coaches with early extensions, new Packers president Ed Policy made it clear: That’s not happening right now. “All three of them [are] under multi-year contracts,” Policy said of LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst, and football ops executive Russ Ball last month. “None of them are up at the end of this year. We won’t be doing anything going into this season.” And while Policy praised LaFleur’s work ethic and developmental mindset, he didn’t sugarcoat the stakes either.

And that’s the problem. While the team has a good regular season record under the HC, the postseason is a different story. Green Bay has dropped five of its eight playoff games under LaFleur’s leadership, including two NFC Championship losses. Most recently, a regressing Jordan Love and a sputtering offense turned up the heat on a coach once seen as the next great offensive innovator. The development pipeline stalled, the team’s identity wavered, and the 2024 season ended with more questions than answers. LaFleur’s ability to craft schemes has never been doubted. But now, it’s about results. The kind that shows up in January. Anything less, and that extension conversation may never even start.

The good news? Matt LaFleur is not short on weapons. The wide receiver core: Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks has shown real flashes. Whether it’s Jordan Love finally finding consistency or Malik Willis adding situational pop, the pieces are there. And that’s exactly why the expectations are higher than ever. Development is no longer just a bonus. It’s the metric. And LaFleur’s 2025 campaign could be the one that defines whether he’s still the guy to lead the next era or the bridge to whoever comes next.