The Green Bay Packers have spent the last few seasons making some of the toughest decisions the franchise has had to make in decades. They’ve moved on from a number of franchise players who played key roles in the success of the team over the last decade.
While the moves tugged on the heart strings of many Packers fans, they unfortunately made sense. That was just reconfirmed.
The Green Bay Packers (Unfortunately) Proved The NFL Right
According to Wendell Ferreira of A to Z Sports:
According to the NFL community of executives, coaches, and scouts, the Packers were clearly right by making that call. ESPN’s national reporter Jeremy Fowler made the exercise of calling around to see who the top 10 players by position in the league are, and unsurprisingly Bakhtiari didn’t crack the tackle list.
Even though the top 10 had zero debuts, and nine players who were already there in 2023, Bakhtiari didn’t get a single vote.
The top 10 has Trent Williams, Penei Sewell, Laremy Tunsil, Tristan Wirfs, Lane Johnson, Christian Darrisaw, Jordan Mailata, Andrew Thomas, Rashawn Slater, and Ronnie Stanley — the last one is certainly the biggest surprise, considering his recent injuries and decline in performance.
Tyron Smith, Dion Dawkins, Terron Armstead, Kolton Miller, Taylor Decker, and Charles Cross received honorable mentions.
Several other players, probably worse than Bakhtiari, received votes. But everything for the former Packer revolves around his knee injury. He’s played only 13 games since the first ACL injury in 2020, and it’s impossible to know for sure if he will be able to consistently play ever again.
Recently, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Bakhtiari’s recovery is going well and that he is on track to play this season, though. If that’s the case, he can certainly be a difference-maker for a contender — but top minds around the league seem to agree with the Packers’ decision to move on.
As Ferreira stated, it is likely that a contender will take a shot on Bakhtiari at some point this year. The biggest question at this point is if it’ll come before week one.
Bakhtiari has had a long road to recovery and he is taking every precaution necessary to get back on the field permanently.
He had made it clear time and time again that he isn’t done playing. As training camps start and pre-season performances are judged, don’t be surprised if Bakhtiari’s phone starts ringing.
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