Bakhtiari’s Knee Leads to Tricky Decision About Future

Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari has started nine of 11 games since making his debut. When he's played, he's played at a "really, really high level," GM Brian Gutekunst said.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 7, 2022 10:27 PM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ list of offseason questions runs deeper than quarterback. Who will be the blind-side protector for that quarterback?

It took three surgeries to get David Bakhtiari back on the field following the torn ACL that perhaps kept the Packers out of the Super Bowl in 2020. After missing almost all the 2021 season and the first couple games of the 2022 season, Bakhtiari has been excellent when he’s played.

“He’s playing at a really, really high level for us,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Monday, one day after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears 28-19.

Bakhtiari didn’t play in that game. The good news is his absence had nothing to do with his knee. The bad news is Friday’s appendectomy could keep him out “a while,” according to coach Matt LaFleur.

The conundrum facing Gutekunst is the long-term status of Bakhtiari vs. the size of Bakhtiari’s paycheck.

Bakhtiari underwent two surgeries in 2021 but still was unavailable for the playoff loss to San Francisco. A third procedure, which took place at some point before the start of the team’s offseason program in April, helped Bakhtiari get back on the field this year.

When he’s played, he’s been tremendous. According to Pro Football Focus, 58 offensive tackles have played at least 278 pass-protecting snaps (Bakhtiari’s number). Bakhtiari is one of only four to not give up a sack. He ranks fourth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-protecting snap.

The problem is Bakhtiari hasn’t always been able to play. Since making his season debut at Tampa Bay in Week 3, Bakhtiari has played in nine of 11 games. He was a surprise inactive at Washington because of the knee and at Chicago because of the appendix. He played less than 60 percent of the snaps in three other games, including a pivotal loss at Detroit, when he missed most of the second half.

As the injury recedes further into the rearview mirror and with an offseason to focus on strength and rehab, will Bakhtiari’s knee improve? Or will it be an issue throughout the rest of his career?

Even for a player like Bakhtiari, a player’s greatest ability is availability. It’s obviously not ideal to prepare all week under the assumption that Bakhtiari is going to be in the lineup, with a game plan assuming he can cancel out even the best pass rushers, only for him to not feel good before the game or during the game.

Then again, Bakhtiari is a truly great player. To be at something less than 100 percent, to have an abbreviated training camp without live reps, to take minimal practice reps and still keep his man away from the quarterback can’t be overstated.

“Obviously, I don’t have that talent so I don’t really know” how that’s possible, offensive line coach Luke Butkus said last week.

Bakhtiari is under contract through the 2024 season. He’s got supersized cap numbers of $29.1 million in 2023, with a $9.5 million roster bonus due on the third day of the league-year, and $33.1 million in 2024, when his base salary swells to $20.2 million. Among left tackles, his cap charge for next season is the third-highest in the league. If the Packers were to release him, they’d create about $5.9 million of cap space, according to OverTheCap.com, but they’d also be creating a high-priority need on the offensive line.

“Obviously, Bak’s been through a tough stretch here,” Gutekunst said. “As he got through the beginning of the season, he went through a stretch of games, that Thursday night game coming off a Sunday game, where I thought he played really, really well, and (the knee) was holding up really well, and then just snakebit with the appendectomy and what he’s going through right now.

"But he’s playing at a very, very high level. Left tackles don’t grow on trees. Another offseason decision. We’ll try to get through all that stuff and see how everything fits. There’s so many things that are so interdependent on each other.”