Packers tackle David Bakhtiari admits Green Bay is in rebuild, still thinks they can win

David Bakhtiari had Aaron Rodgers‘ back for the past decade. And, in a game of semantics, he’s still loyal to his close friend who now plays for the Jets.

In the left tackle’s opinion, if you refuse to say the Packers are in a rebuilding mode, then you’re being disrespectful to Rodgers, who played 18 seasons for Green Bay.

He explained his opinion to reporters this week as the Packers went through Phase 3 of OTAs.

“How I look at is, it’s disrespectful to say you’re not rebuilding off a Hall of Fame quarterback,” David Bakhtiari said. “It was disrespectful to say you weren’t rebuilding off of Brett Favre when you moved to Aaron. No one knew Aaron and what he was going to be. So I’m not going to sit here and like pull back those words because that is, when you look at how it’s been building, how we were chasing after it and the cap — there was a bunch of situations that can definitely allude to it — we have a young team.”

David Bakhtiari is correct. It’s difficult to view the Packers and not think rebuild. The cliche is to say they’re reloading. But you can’t trade away a quarterback like Rodgers and believe this team won’t be a re-something. Rebuilt? Renewed? Revived? You choose your favorite word.

David Bakhtiari pointed to Seattle as rebuild success story

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst doesn’t like to say rebuild. But again, he’s playing semantics. Jordan Love, whom the Packers selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, will be the starting quarterback. He’s made appearances in 10 games over three years. Whether he’s successful or not will be one of the biggest NFL storylines of 2023. After all, the Packers selecting him in 2020 put the wheels in motion for Rodgers to leave,

However, David Bakhtiari doesn’t believe rebuild = losing.

“I think the Seahawks rebuild off of Russell (Wilson), look at how that turned out,” he said. “I can always give you the other side of the coin — I don’t know it off the top of my head — but that’s how I look at and it’s a simple way to put it. We can slice it, cut it, make it look like who wants to be the hero or the villain on that word, but that’s really what I mean.”

Russell Wilson left for Denver. The Broncos fell to 5-12 and fired their first-year coach before Christmas. (Coincidentally, former Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett, the one-time Packers offensive coordinator, now has the same job with the Jets). Meanwhile, the Seahawks thrived with quarterback Geno Smith, who earned NFL comeback player of the year. Seattle reached the first-round of the playoffs.

The Packers don’t have many of Rodgers’ close friends remaining on the team. The Jets even signed receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb. So Packers coach Matt LaFleur is giving his big tackle a break.

“I’m sure it is difficult for him,” LaFleur said. “Anytime you have somebody that you’re invested in and are close with and they move on, it is hard. But I think he’s done an outstanding job. He’s been a really positive influence especially in the offensive line room. When we got in there, he’s always giving coaching points and tips to the guys, so I think he’s done a really good job.”