Packers Will Extend Ted Thompson's Contract Before Mike McCarthy's

Earlier this month, Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal reported that the Packers were working on an extension with head coach Mike McCarthy. However, on Tuesday afternoon at the NFL's Owners Meetings, Green Bay Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy talked with NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and gave a quick bit of information on the status of those talks:

Asked #Packers Prez Mark Murphy about extension talks for Mike McCarthy. Said no extension will happen until they extend GM Ted Thompson

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 20, 2014

To follow that up, he also noted that general manager Ted Thomspon (who’s also in the works for an extension) will be the one who makes the call on McCarthy’s extension, once his is finished:

@jasonjwilde I’ll get you quotes, but basically Murphy said the chain of command is Ted first, then Ted decides whether to extend McCarthy

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 20, 2014

So if Thompson has to be extended before McCarthy, what's the latest on him?

Followed up with #Packers Prez Mark Murphy: Are talking going on now to try to extend GM Ted Thompson’s deal? "I can’t talk about that."

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 20, 2014

This all obviously makes sense from an organizational power standpoint with Murphy going down the line in order on the extensions. Both McCarthy and Thompson signed contract extensions with the organization back in 2011 after they led the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV. McCarthy’s deal runs until the end of the 2015 season, while Thompson’s expires after the 2016 NFL Draft.

The Packers just finished up another draft under Thompson, and McCarthy holds an 82-45-1 record with the franchise after being hired by Thompson prior to the 2006 season. Thankfully, it appears that the issue is not if they’ll get new contracts, but when. I think we can all manage to carry on with our lives knowing this will happen soon enough.

Also, for those who think maybe Thompson is getting too old for this, remember what he said just a few days ago:

"I’m just getting started."