There is nothing worse than a head coach going into the season on the final year of his contract. Fortunately for the Packers, that will not be the case with Mike McCarthy, who was apparently given an extension during the season that no one talked about at the time.

This news comes from Rob Demovsky of ESPN, who reported Tuesday that McCarthy got a one-year extension at some point "during the season." The deal was never announced by the Packers, but it means McCarthy is now under contract through 2019.

Timing wise, this is ... interesting. 

The Packers just "transitioned" (read: fired with respect) Ted Thompson out of the GM role and into another role within the organization that has yet to be announced. Thompson won two Super Bowls as GM of the Packers; he wasn't going to be kicked to the curb in typical NFL fashion.

Green Bay also drastically shifted around Mike McCarthy's coaching staff, getting rid of long-time defensive coordinator Dom Capers, among other coaches.

As Demovsky noted, the extension should make it easier for McCarthy to attract quality assistants to fill the void. He's one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NFL and has a pretty strong level of job security (we think?), but it's much harder to hire assistant coaches when you are heading into the last year of your contract. 

Things could get awkward depending on how the GM search plays out, although it's widely believed an internal candidate will eventually fill the role, with either Eliot Wolf and Brian Gutenkunst emerging as likely in-house replacements for Thompson. On our recent Pick Six Podcast -- subscribe on iTunes here -- CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco said he believes it will be Wolf who lands the gig. 

Presumably an in-house candidate would be beneficial for McCarthy moving forward. Interestingly, it was Thompson, according to Packers president Mark Murphy, who gave McCarthy the extension. Murphy expressed confidence in McCarthy at a press conference on Tuesday.

"Mike is our man. He is our coach. We have all the confidence in the world in Mike that we're going to have great success moving forward," Murphy said.

Murphy also had some jokes about his old GM.

The Packers have two big decisions to make: they need to figure out how to handle McCarthy long term and before they do that, they need to figure out how much money they plan on stuffing in a bag and throwing at Aaron Rodgers. 

The upcoming 2018 season is shaping up to be a huge one in Green Bay.