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Rob Demovsky, ESPN writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — After as many knee surgeries as All-Pro seasons, David Bakhtiari has been released by the Green Bay Packers. A source told ESPN that Bakhtiari is not ready to end his 11-year career at this time.
It was not immediately clear whether he intends to continue his 11-year career.
“Whatever happens next,” he wrote, “I look forward to it.” The franchise left tackle said goodbye in a social media post on Monday.
A lot of emotion in this. I just want to say THANK YOU Green Bay. Thank you for the last 11 years. It has been an incredible race. I’ve always wanted to put up a Lombardi on Lombardi Avenue, but I’ll never complain. I gave it my all. I always gave my best no matter the circumstances… pic.twitter.com/dnc7gkKSAC
– David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) March 11, 2024
Bakhtiari’s end seemed inevitable after he underwent a fifth surgery on his ailing left knee late last season, effectively ending his career with the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2013 draft.
In fact, the 32-year-old underwent two surgeries on his left knee last fall, bringing to five the total number of operations on that knee since tearing his ACL on December 31, 2020. In The last three seasons, Bakhtiari played in only 13 of a possible 51 regular season games.
The latest issue arose after he played in the regular season opener last year. Shortly after that, he underwent what he called minor surgery to “clean up and address what we’re going to do in the future.”
That would lead to a more complicated procedure to address the lateral femoral condyle cartilage tear that Bakhtiari suffered during the initial injury. The reason he wasn’t repaired during his first ACL surgery, he said, was because there was a chance he wouldn’t be problematic in the future.
Bakhtiari said before his latest surgery that he hoped to be ready for the start of 2024 training camp.
Bakhtiari was entering the final year of the four-year, $92 million extension signed in November 2020, less than two months before tearing his ACL. He was scheduled to make $21.5 million this season, and because none of that was guaranteed, that will be erased from the Packers’ salary cap. However, he will count more than $19 million in dead money against his 2024 cap hit. He would have counted $40.5 million if he had been on the roster entering the season.
It didn’t take long for Bakhtiari to establish himself as one of the NFL’s top left tackles. He was named All-Pro for the first time in 2016, when he made the second team. He also made the second team in 2017 and 2019. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 2018 and 2020.
Even after the injury, Bakhtiari performed at a higher level when he was able to play. The problem was that he couldn’t consistently stay in the lineup. The Packers allowed Bakhtiari to practice only occasionally in an effort to preserve him for games.
Bakhtiari said last fall, between his fourth and fifth surgeries, that he wanted to continue playing, but understood the business side might prevent that from happening in Green Bay.
“I think everything is on the table,” Bakhtiari said in October. “For me, I can only control what I can control. I think make sure I attack the rehab, win the day, take the bites out of that elephant, finish the elephant and then decide and see. They have decisions they have to make.” do, what is best for your franchise. “I understood it the moment I got here.”
Bakhtiari was one of Aaron Rodgers’ last closest confidants still on the team’s roster.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has plenty of high draft picks if he wants to use one on a left tackle. He has five picks in the first three rounds, including two second-rounders and two third-rounders.
Rasheed Walker, a 2022 seventh-round pick, served as Bakhtiari’s replacement for most of the season. When asked recently if Walker could start, Gutekunst said, “I certainly think he’s already shown that he’s done a great job.”
However, Gutekunst stopped short of anointing Walker as heir apparent.
“I want competition at all five positions,” Gutekunst said. “But Rasheed, again, is another guy whose improvement on the job he did is exactly what we want, and we hope he continues to improve. But he had a pretty good year last year, he has a lot of upside.” . . Great person. And I’m excited to see where he goes.”