Green Bay Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari announced on Friday that he’ll need at least one more surgery on his left knee. He will be out for the rest of the 2023 season.
The surgery, which is a major one, will be Bakhtiari’s fifth surgery since he tore his ACL on December 31, 2020. Bakhtiari was placed on injured reserve last week and has only played one game this season.
"[You] never want to overreact on a decision unless you have to," Bakhtiari said. "So for us, and for me unfortunately, is that it took a lot of time. I'm sure a lot of people are pissed about it, but I mean I'm the one living it, and for me we had to, and the doctors, we had to make sure that was the problem. Because no doctor wants to operate on you when you [only] think it can help."
The offensive tackle added that his goal is to be ready for training camp next year. Bakhtiari has one year left on his contract. His salary for next year isn’t guaranteed however. For 2024, his salary cap number is $40.5 million.
While Bakhtiari wants to be back next year, he probably won’t be because the Packers should release him. There’s no reason for the Packers to keep him. He’s not reliable and probably would be on the sidelines for most of the season. Since his first injury, Bakhtiari has played in just 13 of 38 regular season games. The Packers would be wasting their money and wouldn’t get any benefits from having Bakhtiari on the roster.
Sadly this means that Bakhtiar’s NFL career is over. The Packers will release him and there probably isn’t another team that’s willing to take a chance on him. He is simply too much of an injury risk for teams to take a chance on. Having him on the roster of any team would be a waste of money, and he would be occupying a spot that could go to someone else.
Time to find a new career David.