Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst is not OK, and he is letting anyone and everyone know it.
The Chicago Bears are still in his head after the Cheeseheads gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter of their NFC wild-card round matchup, en route to a 31-27 win at Soldier Field for the home team.
Per USA Today's Ryan Wood, "Packers GM Brian Gutekunst says he's digested collapse in Chicago 'not well' since season ended. He's proud of many things from his team this past season, but identified biggest area of growth: 'Finishing games.'"
Every member of Green Bay's braintrust took that collapse hard. However, Gutekunst is obviously struggling with how things ended for his team during the 2025 campaign, with Mark Oldacres of The Packers Wire noting that the team's GM was as "salty" as he'd ever seen him on Wednesday, despite Green Bay being one month out from the loss in question.
Going beyond what was clear, lingering frustration from Gutekunst, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur wouldn't even talk about his future in the immediate aftermath of the game, only addressing how much he hurt for his locker room.
"With all due respect to your question, now's not the time for that. I'm just hurting for these guys. I can only think about what just happened, and there will be time for that," LaFleur said when asked whether he expected to return next season for an eighth year.
LaFleur had quarterback Jordan Love's blessing to return. No head coaching move was made, with LaFleur still in the seat, Green Bay has more pressure to win than any other franchise in the NFC.
Bears Preserved Hope and Have the Packers on the Ropes in 2026
Though neither the Bears nor Packers looked like they'd be a match for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round, that Chicago-Green Bay playoff game carried immense weight within the context of this blood feud.
The Bears' picking up consecutive comeback wins against the Packers in the regular season and postseason creates momentum within the fanbase that'll carry over all offseason. More importantly, that locker room will be carrying over the momentum, too. Obviously, the opposite is true in Green Bay, and the hope in the second city is that Chicago's momentum, coupled with Gutekunst's frustrations, leads the Packers' GM to take unnecessary chances on more aggressive offseason moves.
That one playoff win means Ryan Poles and Co. shouldn't feel the need to be as aggressive in reshuffling the deck. In fact, with an increased salary cap, several of the guys assumed to be goners, like safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, cornerback Nahshon Wright, WR Olamide Zaccheaus, and OL Braxton Jones, could return.
Sure, a D.J. Moore trade could still be on the table. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds could still be on the chopping block. There's going to be roster turnover, as there is every offseason. The difference is, there won't be a black cloud hovering over the Windy City this offseason, with optimism high after a best-case scenario finish in Caleb Williams' first postseason.
The same cannot be said on the east coast of Wisconsin.