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Just because David Bakhtiari’s time in Green Bay is over doesn’t mean his time in the NFL is.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, “When the #Packers released All-Pro LT David Bakhtiari, there were some questions about what’s next. My understanding: He is diligently rehabbing and is focused on returning to play this coming season, I’m told. He’s taking it as it comes. But plans to play.”
Bakhtiari has struggled to stay healthy since suffering a knee injury in 2020. Prior to that he had been selected to five straight All-Pro teams and afterwards he’s appeared in just 13 games.
The Packers released the 32-year-old earlier this month after 11 seasons of loyal service. Bakhtiari was a fourth-round pick out of Colorado back in 2013 and started all 16 games as a rookie; locking down Aaron Rodgers’ blindside every year after.
There’s no shortage of teams around the league in need of added protection for their respective quarterbacks. But with Bakhtiari’s age and injury history it may be hard for an organization to feel confident in signing him.
The Jets recently added Tyron Smith, whose also had a string of bad injury luck over the same period of time. So there’s certainly hope that Bakhtiari could find himself on a roster contributing positively to a team.