Packers signed coach Mike McCarthy to one-year extension during 2017 season

The Green Bay Packers won't enter the 2018 season with a lame-duck coach.

Mike McCarthy was given a one-year extension, keeping him under contract through the 2019 season. The extension came during the 2017 season, a source told the Journal Sentinel.

It prevents the Packers from the uncertainty of beginning this offseason with a coach entering the final year of his contract. McCarthy last signed an extension during the 2015 season, which at the time carried his contract through the 2018 season.

The Packers have long preferred to avoid playing a season with a lame-duck coach. In Ted Thompson's first year as general manager, he gave former Packers coach Mike Sherman a two-year extension in training camp before the 2005 season to avoid having a lame duck. Thompson fired Sherman after the 2005 season with two years left on the deal.

Now, team president Mark Murphy has done that for McCarthy. With a vacancy at general manager, McCarthy's future could rest on whether the Packers fill the opening inside the organization or outside. McCarthy has supporters within the organization, but someone hired from the outside could want to wipe the slate clean and hire his own coach.

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.