Packers Release David Bakhtiari, Whose Career Was Doomed by Knee Injury

David Bakhtiari was the gold standard for left tackles for a string of dominant seasons. His release will save the Packers almost $21 million against the salary cap.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Dec. 31, 2020, David Bakhtiari’s NFL career changed forever when he suffered a devastating knee injury on the practice field. Exactly 1,166 days later and five surgeries later, the Green Bay Packers are releasing the five-time All-Pro left tackle

Bakhtiari made it official via social media on Monday.

“It’s been a hell of a run,” he wrote. “I always wanted to raise a Lombardi on Lombardi avenue, but I will never complain. I gave it my all. I always gave it my best no matter the circumstance and to me, that truly was enough. My 32 year old self is so damn proud of that 21 year old with no facial hair, bushy tail kid that just wanted to do his best.”

A lot of emotion in this. I just want to say THANK YOU Green Bay. Thank you for the last 11 years. It’s been a hell of a run. I always wanted to raise a Lombardi on Lombardi avenue, but I will never complain. I gave it my all. I always gave it my best no matter the circumstance… pic.twitter.com/dnc7gkKSAC

— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) March 11, 2024

A source said Bakhtiari intends to keep playing; retirement is not on the table.

The cruel reality is the injury – a torn ACL and so much more – ruined a great career. The ice-cold business reality is the Packers created almost $21 million of cap space. They are up to about $34.5 million for the start of free agency.

From 2016 through 2020, Bakhtiari was the only offensive tackle in the NFL to earn first- or second-team All-Pro honors all five seasons. He joined Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg as the only offensive tackles in franchise history to be a five-time All-Pro.

If not for the injury, the Packers might have gone to the Super Bowl in 2020. If not for the injury, he might have been a lock for football immortality.

“I think he has Hall of Fame potential,” former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said in 2018. “He’s an incredible player. He’s been a rock for us. When he’s over there, you feel really comfortable with him locking down pass rushers throughout the game.”

Getting to train for football rather than rehabbing following offseason surgery, Bakhtiari was brimming with optimism entering 2023.

“I’m not going to be a fortune teller or anything, but I think we’re finally really good in a spot,” he said.

Bakhtiari started Week 1 and dominated in the victory over the Bears. Index finger raised toward the sky, he walked off the field triumphantly.

That would be his last game of the season. His Packers career. And who knows about his NFL career.

The decision to release Bakhtiari, ultimately, came down to dollars and cents. In 2024, the final year of a four-year, $92 million contract extension, he is due a base salary of $20.2 million, part of a franchise-quarterback-level salary-cap charge of a bit more than $40 million. Maybe last year’s season-ending surgeries will save his career, but the Packers couldn’t afford to wait to find out.

By eliminating the base salary and another $1.3 million available in per-game roster bonuses and workout bonuses, the Packers will save about $20.94 million against the cap (but carry a dead-money charge of about $19.08 million, according to OverTheCap.com). 

They are now about $34.56 million under the salary cap. As of the start of free agency on Monday, that ranks right in the middle of the pack and will allow general manager Brian Gutekunst to be a player in the veteran market.

Rasheed Walker, who fared well in starting the final 18 games of 2023, is the in-house favorite to be Jordan Love’s blind-side protector in 2024, though the team could look to the draft to find Bakhtiari’s long-term successor.

After the Chicago game, Bakhtiari was inactive for the next couple games before being placed on injured reserve. He opted for two surgeries, the second of which ended his season but he hoped would resurrect his career.

“The goal is to address the lateral femur because I’ve been dealing with a lot of fluid,” Bakhtiari said during a 40-minute interview session on Oct. 10.

David Bakhtiari celebrates the Week 1 win at Chicago :: Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports Images

He said he had set and broken team records for most fluid drained from a knee.

“I feel like a sports car that can’t get out of second gear. The clutch gets stuck, and then we have to go draw it back down. For me, I guess, the clarity and the fact I can finally put the issue to bed and fix it, that part feels good. Now, what has to come of that? Me going on IR? Me having to get another surgery on my knee? The scopes are scopes. They’re not that big of a deal. I’m not trying to downplay it, but they’re not that big of a deal. I got surgery six days ago and I’m moving around, doing my stuff.

“I just can’t, when it comes in terms of football, I’m unable to perform and you need to perform to play this game. That’s why these big ones knock you out for a long time.”

Not many injuries had the impact of Bakhtiari’s, which was suffered about six weeks after signing the extension.

The 2020 Packers were a juggernaut with the best record in the league and the No. 1 seed. However, with Bakhtiari on the sideline, the offensive tackles allowed five sacks in a five-point loss to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game.

The injury limited Bakhtiari to one game in 2021. At the urging of Rodgers, Bakhtiari started the season finale at Detroit. He performed brilliantly in about three quarters of action. The Packers, once again the No. 1 seed, hoped he’d be ready for a run to the Super Bowl. Instead, after a bye week, he was inactive for the playoff loss to San Francisco.

In 2022, Bakhtiari started 11 of 17 games and played about 55 percent of the offensive snaps. He didn’t allow a single sack, a remarkable achievement considering what he’d gone through – including an emergency appendectomy – and the limited practice reps.

When he was in his prime, he said the game was almost too easy for him.

The injury made it impossible.

Bakhtiari thought the worst was behind him entering 2023. It was a chance to relaunch his career and write the final chapters to his career.

“Going out there, playing my brand of ball, make my family proud of what I’m able to do,” he said at the start of training camp. “Make sure my teammates appreciate the kind of player and the kind of man that I am, and the organization appreciates what I’m willing to do. That’s about how I want it to be. think that’s the over-arching theme that I want to have.”

Instead, the relaunch crashed and burned and ended back on the operating table. Including the appendectomy, he had six surgeries since the injury.

With more than $120 million in career earnings and a superb resume, why would Bakhtiari put himself through all the hell?

“Because I’m different,” he said on Oct. 10. “I have an unparalleled work ethic. I’m stubborn as f**k and I’m not going to let someone else write my story. This is me taking control of what I need to do. When I want to look back, do I want to look at the guy who got injured and was like ‘Ah, that’s good enough?’ If that’s me, then the future, older me is going to be pissed at the younger me like, ‘You f**king quitter.’

“When times are tough, for sure. I’m sure plenty of you guys don’t want to come into work anymore. I’m sure there’s been tough days at work, at home, where you’re like, ‘Screw it.’ But take that same mentality and you put it here, gravity can be different and it can weigh more, but it just shows that’s also what makes us human beings special is our ability to preserve and to push. And I want to do that.”

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