Packers working to restructure David Bakhtiari's contract
The veteran offensive tackle played in 11 games last season coming off an extended absence due to a significant knee injury
By PackerAaron
As PackersNews.com reported earlier this week, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed here at the Combine this morning that the Packers are working to restructure David Bakhtiari's contract and plan on having him man their left tackle position for the foreseeable future.
Bakhtiari’s cap hit for 2023 is currently scheduled to be just over $28 million. The Packers will most likely convert base salary and other bonuses into a signing bonus and add void years to the deal, which has been their cap playbook the last few years.
During the latter part of the season, the trainers, coaches and Bakhtiari seemed to find a good groove when it came to his practice schedule and keeping him fresh for game day, where he performed at his customary All-Pro level week in and week out. Regardless of who is playing quarterback in 2023, their blindside is being taken care of.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Comments (25)
pantz_bURp
February 28, 2023 at 11:04 am
Bakh to the Future...
I officially have my eyes closed and fingers in my ears. I ain't built for this. 😀
LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA
"week in and week out"...more like one week in the lineup, the next week out. Like anything a gamble, could pay off or not.
stockholder
February 28, 2023 at 11:20 am
3- 5s and a jack
Barnacle
March 01, 2023 at 03:42 pm
Mystery
The Packers Cap Management is beyond foolish. Gute must be the worst people person still in a high level position.
Now he is saying stupid things relating to Jordan Love. Love should tell stupid Gute to shove it.
Murphy, Ball, Gute, LeFleur and Barry must be the weakest brain trust in the league. Our payroll is the second highest in the league and our future is financially compromised and we do not even make the playoffs. A real owner would be pissed.
croatpackfan
February 28, 2023 at 11:31 am
Shit, those young OLers must be bust. Each of them!
PackyCheese500
February 28, 2023 at 12:21 pm
More irresponsible cap management, I see. Bakh is a great player and I really like him as a Packer, but what sense does this make when we have Tom and Nijman ready to take over? Also, his injury history is not to be taken lightly.
Another team would take on about a 5.7m cap hit if they received him in a trade. We’d probably get a day 2 pick for him. Trade him. We need to get younger.
PackAttack4155
February 28, 2023 at 03:03 pm
Are they ready to take over? I think Tom will get there, but Nijman has looked completely lost in pass protection at times.
PackyCheese500
February 28, 2023 at 07:24 pm
Obviously all you remember is the final game vs DET when Nijman was playing with a shoulder injury, He is a top 10 run blocking tackle and he fared very well at RT for most of the season, especially impressive when you consider he has had barely any training at the spot in his pro career. An off-season at RT should help him improve.
BirdDogUni
February 28, 2023 at 08:08 pm
I have a feeling we'll keep Bakh until the trade deadline, then trade him for a 1st next year...
It's what I would do.
PackyCheese500
February 28, 2023 at 10:04 pm
I don't think he's worth a 1st. Maybe a mid-late 2nd or 3rd rounder.
golfpacker1
March 03, 2023 at 06:23 pm
All Pro offensive tackles don't grow on trees. Half the league is always looking for one even if they are about 75% of what they were. I bet we would be surprised how many offers we would get for him. Probably a 1st or 2nd rounder. Even more because multiple teams would be involved. It is time to move him because he won't get healthier as he gets older. Remember Bulaga. We just keep pushing $$ down the road and it is catching up.
jannesbjornson
February 28, 2023 at 11:47 pm
Look at his tape vs Buffalo...
Thegreatreynoldo
March 01, 2023 at 01:30 am
Nijman's PFF grades are 63, 63 and 60. He is an average OT who received tons of help last year with Lewis parked next to him, or chips and sliding protection his way. Bakh is left on a island and gets it done. You can't help both tackles. Nijman is a guy a team can win with, maybe a little better than that. He might even still have some upside. Remember, Nijman becomes a free agent in 2024. Right now, if he blossoms and perhaps if he just improves to solid, GB might have trouble paying him. The 16th highest paid left tackle makes $13.3M AAV. True, RTs get less, but it isn't clear that Nijman isn't a better LT than an RT.
I would restructure Bakh and trot him out there for the first 8 games. If he is healthy and playing well (and if the team is not looking like a Super Bowl or playoff contender - and maybe even if it is), trade Bakh. The acquiring team is looking at $600K or so for the rest of the 2023 season and $21.5M in 2024. That should be attractive enough to garner a first or a very high second.
Zach Tom looked pretty darn good. Both Nagler and Herman think his best position is left tackle. Fine, he can play the last 9 weeks there. Still, Tom is very capable of playing OC, RG, or RT, whichever position is weakest. I think he will force his way into the lineup so we don't have one of our better linemen sitting on the bench.
jannesbjornson
March 01, 2023 at 12:45 pm
Wallace takes Nijman's spot. He had his chance. I would still get an OT in rd one or two. Get this O line back to elite status. Tom was schooled by the other rookie, Hendrickson and needed help. Helpers take one more guy away from the offensive attack. I like Tom's footwork and intelligence. Let him compete inside. Maybe he comes back stronger? It appears defenses prefer to play smash mouth vs the Shanahan schemes to neutralize them. It may be the knee injuries to Myers and Jenkins have affected their ability to deal with bull rushes and the leveraging. See if they come back stronger.
PackyCheese500
March 01, 2023 at 10:07 pm
If we draft an OL I would take Skoronski. He has the inside-outside versatility and is an excellent player. Plus the family ties too.
PackyCheese500
March 01, 2023 at 10:06 pm
He ranked top 10 in run block win rate and was top 10 in pass block win rate before the week 18 game.
PackAttack4155
March 04, 2023 at 12:30 pm
Nijman consistently getting TE help is a great point.
PackAttack4155
February 28, 2023 at 02:50 pm
Bakhtiari is far better than any tackle on the roster, but he needs to actually be playing for that to be true. Top tackles can last well into their 30s, and he looked a lot better as the season went along. Didn't allow a single sack or QB hit. Whether its Rodgers or Love under center (a position they need to upgrade at some point soon, Myers doesn't seem to be the long-term answer), I'm more comfortable with their blindside protected by a proven all-pro. Tom looked great for a rookie, but he's far from proven as a starter, and a little undersized. The offseason prep will be huge for him, and I think he'll get it done. He's one of my new favorites on the team, looks like GB's LT of the future, who can play just about anywhere on the line. Another fourth round steal for the OL. Nijman is good, a real gem of a find, but I don't know if he's as good as a 3/4 strength Bakh, especially in pass-blocking situations. His play in week 18, with the season on the line, and against a defensive front they'll see twice a season, was telling.
If Aaron Jones can take a pay cut to stay in GB, after one of his best seasons statistically, you'd think Bakh, after making some dang good money while in recovery, would do the same. Too much kicking the salary cap can down the road. I can see it being hard to justify on his end, he's making big money while he can. Especially when there's such a glaring salary cap hole made by Rodgers, who makes bank with endorsements. Rodgers taking a pay cut sounds great, however completely unlikely.
Many on CHTV want to go younger, across much of the roster, and its hard to argue against it. I'd like to see Bakh on the team for another season, for guaranteed depth, and to let the younger guys, including a likely draft pick(s), develop further.
PackyCheese500
February 28, 2023 at 07:25 pm
Bite the bullet now. Get younger now and shed the cap hit. We’d save nearly 25+ million from our 2024 cap by doing so with Bakh
PatrickGB
February 28, 2023 at 07:08 pm
Whatever is necessary is fine by me. I will wait for the explanations later.
Leatherhead
February 28, 2023 at 07:35 pm
If it were me, I'd be trying as hard as I could to get the 9 best OL I could, and Bakhtiari would be one of them. Yeah, he costs money but he costs us money even if he doesn't play, or doesn't play for us. If he's on the field, that's a good thing for Green Bay:
Bakhtiari. Jenkins. Nijman. Runyan. Myers. Tom. Those are our best six right now. We need 9.
stockholder
February 28, 2023 at 08:26 pm
If I was Bahk I'd Leave on my own.
Instead of re-working the contract.
Burn it. Become a Free Agent.
jannesbjornson
February 28, 2023 at 11:46 pm
They get the cash on these refis. Nobody is losing money vis-a'-vis future risk of injury. He is staying right where he belongs, Now go out and hunt a RT to cover Rodgers face side.
Leatherhead
March 01, 2023 at 08:54 am
And somebody actually upvoted this piece of nonsense.
He can't burn his contract and declare he's a free agent. That's just stupid.
gpt999
March 01, 2023 at 03:06 pm
Boy, bringing Bahk back seems risky given his health over the past 2 seasons. Just look at the Sammy W experiment last season. Injured most of the time and his absence added to the uncertainty of the WR group. And while I understand that the 2 positions are infinitely different, any injury that keeps high paid, impact players out the lineup hurts the team in many ways.
Maybe restructuring his salary is a good move if GB decides to deal him away and probably necessary in that scenario? But I feel that the Pack is strong in younger OL prospects if all the hype is to be believed? I guess we'll see soon enough...
ImaPayne
March 01, 2023 at 09:52 pm
This is more about saving face isnt it. If we cant redo contracts and start losing a lot of people then we all know why: the Rodgers contract churned all this up.
I think they want to pacify diva boy too, look were bringing the band back please stay another year and save our jobs.