We have some long-term questions about Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari, but Bakhtiari sees things pretty clearly.
There’s the contract, the ankle and the position.
Bakhtiari is in the final year of his rookie deal and with second-round pick Jason Spriggs in town, his future with the Packers is in doubt.
Then there’s the ankle injury that caused him to miss three games in 2015. The ankle was described as “shredded,” but Bakhtiari insists it won’t hold him back at all this year. To that end, he’s been a full participant in all of the Packers’ offseason activities.
Then there’s the question of a position change. There was a rumor before the draft that the Packers viewed Bakhtiari as a guard and wanted to upgrade at left tackle. They seemingly did upgrade when they drafted Spriggs.
So where does that leave Bakhtiari? He’s working at left tackle now and made it clear he wants nothing to do with moving to guard.
“Name another left tackle who’s made 50-plus starts and then gone to another position,” Bakhtiari said. “I’m not going to be a pioneer. I’m not going to start a new trend. I’m going to stay at my position. I’m a tackle. That’s what I’ve been ever since I got pads on.”
There’s good reason for Bakhtiari to want nothing to do with a move to guard and there’s more to it than pride.
It’s about dollars.
As a left tackle, Bakhtiari stands to make around $10 million per season. It’s the most valuable position on the offensive line. Even though Bakhtiari isn’t a top-tier left tackle, he’s good enough and some team — probably not the Packers — is going to pay him that kind of money.
As a guard, Bakhtiari’s market value would be about half of what it is at left tackle.
The Packers are currently paying starting left guard Josh Sitton an average of $6.75 million per season. They’re paying T.J. Lang $5.2 million annually.
In no realm would we say Bakhtiari is a better offensive lineman than either of those guys, but he’s worth more on the open market so long as he remains a left tackle.
And as you can see, that’s a huge dollar amount over the length of a contract. We’re talking at least $20 million.
We’ve never been fans of Bakhtiari. Too many penalties, can’t stop a bull rush to save his life. Thus, you probably won’t be surprised to learn we’ll be just fine with the Packers letting him sign elsewhere next season.
Someone is going to pay this guy as a left tackle. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like it will be the Packers.
I personally don’t like David Bakhtiari if you ask me because in my opinion he is a penalty machine. I think this is a miss by overrated TT because of the fact he causes penalties.
I meant to comment as Packers fan, NOT Anti-McCarthy fan if anyone replies.
I wonder if OL $ allocation next year is based on Bahktiari leaving in FA (nice comp pick there), Spriggs stepping into LT, and using some of “savings” to sign Lang and/or Sittton. Right now I’d be good with that.
It’s one thing to pay a LT 10mill/year. it’s another thing to pay that to someone who hasn’t earned it. Yes, Bahk is serviceable, and he’s better than Marshall Newhouse, but he’s no Chad Clifton. Just as Bulaga is no Mark Tauscher.
Were overpaying Bulaga already, you can’t overpay both your tackles. If someone else wants to overpay him, then so be it.
Let David Bakhtiari go he is a penalty machine..