Bakhtiari Won’t Be ‘Pissed-Off Old Veteran’

On Wednesday at Packers OTAs, David Bakhtiari promised a smile on his face, no matter the team’s record, following the trade of Aaron Rodgers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 31, 2023 7:04 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Following the trade of his close friend, Aaron Rodgers, David Bakhtiari is the most senior member of the Green Bay Packers as he enters Year 11 with the team. He’s been a member of four teams that reached NFC Championship Games but is still chasing his first Super Bowl.

“I’ve been around the block enough times and I want to win,” Bakhtiari said on Wednesday following the fifth practice of OTAs.

With Jordan Love taking over at quarterback, there’s obviously no guarantee the Packers are going to win this year. After all, in Rodgers’ debut season as the starter in 2008, the Packers went only 6-10.

In April, Bakhtiari said the Packers were “rebuilding.” He didn’t back down from that term on Tuesday. Entering a season with a team deemed pretender rather than contender is an unusual position for Bakhtiari. Since being drafted in 2013, Green Bay has won six NFC North titles and reached the playoffs seven times in 10 seasons.

How will he handle it if this team doesn’t win?

“That’s a very valid question,” Bakhtiari said. “This is a tough situation and a different pill that I would have to swallow. I got drafted here, I’ve been here. I’m cool with ... Whatever they want to have me be for this team, I’m going to be for the team. We’ve had a great relationship over the decade and going into my 11th year, and that’s how I’m going to treat it.

“I’m not going to sit here and be a pissed-off old veteran. I’ve been very fortunate and blessed. I’m a Day 3 guy who worked his ass off. At times, Green Bay was very happy and very fortunate for what I was doing for them, and at times I’ve been very fortunate for what Green Bay’s done for me. So, that’s exactly how I’m looking at it. I also want to couple that with winning, but I also understand that we haven’t played any games. We could go 17-0; we could go 0-17. That’s the reality of it.”

Bakhtiari ruffled some feathers – including within the organization – with his “rebuilding” comments. When he went to Twitter and called the Packers’ schedule video “booty cheeks,” it was fair to wonder if he was that “pissed-off veteran” trying to push his way out of Green Bay via a trade.

That didn’t seem to be the case during a lengthy and good-humored conversation with reporters on Wednesday. First and foremost, he was on the field for the voluntary practices. Whether it’s the final Wednesday of May or the first Wednesday of January, he said he planned to come to the facility “every day and have a smile on my face.”

Was he sad to see Rodgers get traded? Naturally. But that’s life in the NFL. Before Rodgers, there was the surprise release of Josh Sitton. Fellow offensive linemen T.J. Lang, Bryan Bulaga and Corey Linsley left in free agency.

“It’s a business. You should never forget that. Because it will happen,” he said. “There will be a day there will be a new name [placed above his locker]. You guys may say, ‘Hey, remember who was there? It was Dave. Some frickin’ idiot with long hair who always made fun of me.’”

So, Bakhtiari will line up and play with professionalism in protecting Jordan Love, just as he did with Rodgers.

“I don’t care what the record’s going to be,” he said. “You come in, you work because I have a job to do. I’m not going to not do my job. That’s what they pay me to do is my job. It’s kind of weird to say it but every man in here has a job to do. If you don’t do it, you’re not being a professional.”