Report: Packers make major change to David Bakhtiari's contract

The Green Bay Packers entered the offseason projected to be well over the NFL’s salary cap. But over the last week, Green Bay has restructured multiple contracts in an attempt to clear a significant amount of cap room. On Saturday morning, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that the Packers have now restructured another contract, this time the contract of star left tackle David Bakhtiari.

“Another one: the Packers have converted $11.58M of LT David Bakhtiari’s 2022 compensation into a signing bonus, creating significant cap space for this season, per source,” Yates tweeted. “A busy week for the Packers’ cap continues.”

Bakhtiari played in just one game this past season as he recovered from an injury. Creating a significant amount of cap space by restructuring Bakhtiari’s contract will go a long way for the Packers as they try to bring back some talented players that are due to hit the open market.

Green Bay has also recently restructured the deals of running back Aaron Jones and nose tackle Kenny Clark. The Packers created over $3 million by restructuring Jones’ contract and nearly $11 million with Clark. Prior to Bakhtiari, the Packers had already created nearly $14 million in cap space, with that number only continuing to rise.

All eyes in the NFL are on the Packers, as quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Davante Adams both have uncertain futures with the organization. Rodgers will likely soon decide whether to continue his career in Green Bay, demand a trade to a new team, or retire altogether. Adams is a franchise tag candidate, but his future also likely hinges on the outcome of the Rodgers situation.

The Packers expect a bounce back for Bakhtiari next season

Despite not being available for nearly the entire season, the Packers are confident in Bakhtiari moving forward. With Bakhtiari returning to full health next season, he re-joins an offensive line that also includes star Elgton Jenkins, who also missed a lot of the year with injuries, and young center Josh Myers, among others.

“He played about 28 snaps in the Detroit game and really played well, so was really excited, thinking we were kind of over the hump, didn’t happen,” Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said of Bakhtiari. “I think it would have been, once we’d kept going, if we would have won that last ballgame, but long-term feel really good about him as our left tackle.”

Bakhtiari was a fourth round selection by Green Bay in the 2013 NFL Draft. He has started 119 games in his NFL career. Over the course of his career, Bakhtiari is a three-time Pro Bowler, a two-time first team All-Pro, and a three-time second team All-Pro.