I feel for David Bakhtiari first and foremost as a person.
This piece does not criticize him as a person.
He has gone through a lot because of this injury, and he is working hard to fully recover. Sometimes, our body responds in ways that are out of our control, and we shouldn’t be held responsible.
He’s taken way too much heat for this matter, and this article isn’t adding to the criticism he’s already been subjected to.
Let’s now concentrate on how his ongoing injury is affecting the Green Bay Packers on the football field.
Bakhtiari made his return to the football field for the Packers’ regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears after sparingly working out during training camp and the preseason and not taking part in any preseason games.
In pass protection, where he didn’t allow a pressure in 30 pass-blocking snaps, he played 55 snaps and was his usual, elite self.
David Bakhtiari’s injury should worry the Green Bay Packers a lot because they have a huge problem on their hands.
He hasn’t played or practiced since, and 18 days after his last on-field activity, he was already listed as out for Green Bay’s game against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
It was initially believed to be a turf-related issue.
In Week 1, Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury, and Green Bay was due to play in Atlanta.
Some made the connection between Bakhtiari missing Week 2 and his vocal distaste for turf.
Sadly, despite the fact that Weeks 3 and 4 were played at Lambeau Field, he kept missing time after that.
With regard to this injury, head coach Matt LaFleur has exchanged conflicting statements with the media, claiming that Bakhtiari is hurt.
It turns out that statement is true, despite some initial skepticism.
Bakhtiari suffered an ACL tear during practice in December of 2020, and he will soon reach the three-year mark since the incident that negatively impacted his career. He had just signed a four-year, $92 million contract with Green Bay and was one of the best left tackles in the NFL at the time.
He has a cap hit of $21.3 million this year and a whopping $40.5 million in 2024 because of that contract.
The Packers will be responsible for $19 million of his salary if they decide to release him the following year.
That might be the most advantageous route for Bakhtiari and Green Bay right now.
He has only participated in 13 of a possible 39 games since his injury, including Week 4 of this season.
Although Green Bay cannot afford to pay him top dollar to be a player who plays only occasionally, he is excellent when he is on the field.
Bakhtiari consistently shows why he’s one of the NFL’s top left tackles, so there’s no questioning his skills when he’s on the field.
The best skill in this situation, though, is availability, and he has very little of it.
He may soon be leaving the NFL, which is a bitter pill to swallow.