Packers are Expected to Cut Fan- Favorite Tackle.
David Bakhtiari‘s time with the Packers is nearly virtually winding down. Post-Aaron Rodgers and Mason Crosby, the 2013 draftee is the team’s longest-tenured player. But the knee damage sustained in a late-season practice in 2020 sidetracked the All-Pro’s career.
That seminal setback has led to five surgeries on the equal knee; counting playoff opportunities, Bakhtiari has overlooked 45 games for the reason that the December 2020 injury.
He used to be on the discipline for one contest final season, and though the longtime Green Bay left address did now not put retirement in play when he went down closing season, he will quickly no longer be attached to the profitable extension signed halfway through the 2020 campaignThe Packers are predicted to release Bakhtiari soon, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman notes (subscription required). Labeling the remember a formality, the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Ryan Wood also points to this launch transpiring.
The Packers can retailer nearly $21M by using reducing the 11-year veteran. He is set to rely a team-high $40M in opposition to the Packers’ cap this year. One season stays on Bakhtiari’s contract. None of his remaining salary is guaranteed, even though the Packers have extra than $19M in deferred signing bonus set to represent dead money if/when the former fourth-round pick is cut.
Prior to Bakhtiari going down with the ACL tear, the Packers gave him a four-year, $92M extension.While it is realistic to advise the Packers venture to Super Bowl LV if Bakhtiari was once available, that shortly devolved into a neglected opportunity. By the point the five-time All-Pro was once geared up to play often again, the Packers have been no longer at that level.
They finished 8-9 and neglected the playoffs for the duration of the 2022 slate, which featured eleven Bakhtiari outings. Bakhtiari performed properly when on the field in 2022, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ No. 12 average tackle.
More knee bother and an appendectomy sidelined him for six contests that season, which came after a 2021 marketing campaign blanketed solely 27 Bakhtiari snaps. Last season, Bakhtiari performed in Week 1 but quickly needed the above-referenced fifth knee procedure.
Matt LaFleur said Bakhtiari experienced swelling in his surgically repaired knee before Week 2, and ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky indicates coaching camp stays the intention for the injury-prone veteran.After Elgton Jenkins suffered a torn ACL when filling in for Bakhtiari at left address in 2021, the crew settled on seventh-round choose Rasheed Walker as the veteran’s principal replacement final season.
The 2022 draftee made 15 begins and was once the team’s blind-sider in both playoff games. Barring an offseason improve effort, Walker would go into the ’24 season as one of the many rookie-contract starters on Green Bay’s offense.
As for Bakhtiari, the Jets being the group to supply him a bounce-back possibility seems logical. Rodgers wields sizeable affect with the AFC East club, and the four-time MVP has been related to trying to bring his longtime LT to the Big Apple.
The Jets would probable pick a more steady option, given Mekhi Becton‘s injury-plagued tenure. The group is no longer viewed as overly fascinated in re-signing Becton, however, and Rodgers in reality drove personnel moves last year.
It will be interesting to see if Rodgers pushes difficult for the Jets to sign Bakhtiari at a substantially reduced charge — in contrast to his Packers deal, at least — once his Wisconsin tenure wraps
