Per a report Sunday morning, the Green Bay Packers are expected to part ways with their best helper for Jordan Love’s offense in the 2024 offseason. The Packers could be making a deal soon to gift-wrap their All-Pro veteran and ship him off to Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets.
The Packers offense started slow but progressed nicely in Love’s first season as the starter. Much of Love’s success came in a season where his offensive line dealt with significant injuries. Star left tackle David Bakhtiari was the biggest injury on the offensive line.
Bakhtiari played one game in the 2023 season. He suffered a knee injury against the Chicago Bears in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve for the rest of the year. Bakhtiari has been hit and miss on the Packers’ active roster since he suffered an ACL injury in 2020.
However, when Bakhtiari plays, he’s consistently the Packers’ best offensive player on the field. Per Pro Football Focus, Bakhtiari was the Packer’s highest-graded offensive lineman and finished with an 89.9 pass-blocking grade against the Bears. Rasheed Walker, Bakhtiari’s replacement, would finish the season earning a 66.4 grade for his overall play.
Green Bay Packers expected to lose All-Pro LT
Unfortunately for the Packers, Bakhtiari’s sporadic play isn’t worth the contract at this point. Per Nick Spano with uStadium, the Packers are expected to cut Bakhtiari “soon” in order to save $21 million:
“The 2013 4th-round pick is expected to be released in the coming weeks…
Bakhtiari had an incredible career for the Pack, collecting 2 First-Team All-Pro’s (2018, 2020), 3 Second-Team All-Pro’s (2016, 2017, 2019) and 3 Pro Bowl’s (2016, 2019, 2020) but has missed 45 games since a knee injury sustained in a late-season practice in 2020 sidetracked the All-Pro’s career.
That injury has since led to five surgeries on the same knee. He was on the field for one game last season. The release is said to be a “matter a formality” according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman The same was echoed by Green Bay Press Gazette’s Ryan Wood. The Packers can save nearly $21MM by cutting the 11-year veteran.
The New York Jets could have David Bakhtiari in 2024
Spano thinks there is a good likelihood Bakhtiari will end up with the offensive tackle-needy Jets for the 2024 season. Matt Schneidman with The Athletic thinks so, too. But he’s not sure if the Packers will release Bakhtiari or try and get some draft capital via a trade:
“The Packers will assuredly trade or release Bakhtiari — maybe the New York Jetsfork over a late-round pick to reunite Bakhtiari with his old golf cart buddy Aaron Rodgers, and that’s not a joke — despite the possibility that he’s still elite when healthy, as he showed for a brief Sunday against the Chicago Bears in September.”
Jordan Love will lose his best player in 2024
Love progressed well in the 2023 season, only having Bakhtiari protect him for one game. However, Bakhtiari’s absence showed up in the playoffs. In the Wild Card round, Walker did well in pass protection against the Dallas Cowboys. But his run blocking was a problem against the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
Walker gave up three pressures, two hurries, and one hit against the 49ers’ talented defensive line in the Divisional Round loss. He also had a penalty. Bakhtiari would have made a clear difference over Walker for the Packers if he were healthy against the 49ers.
But the Packers can’t afford to gamble on Bakhtiari’s health next season. They need reliability at the left tackle position, even if that means downgrading from their best player on the field/sidelines.
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