As the team battled a game Jacksonville Jaguars squad on Sunday, some pretty big Green Bay Packers news broke on social media.
Star left tackle David Bakhtiari, 29, was set to hit free agency following the 2020 season. The Packers knew they needed to lock him up before the two-time Pro Bowler hit the open market.
That’s now happened.
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Packers news: David Bakhtiari now the highest-paid offensive tackle in NFL history
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk was the first to note that the Packers have signed Bakhtiari to a four-year contract extension. A later report indicated that it’s worth $23 million annually, making the veteran the highest-paid tackle in NFL history.
The terms of said deal are something else. It can be worth up to $105.5 million over the next four years. To say that Bakhtiari has earned his keep for the Packers would be an understatement.
A fourth-round pick out of Colorado back in 2013, Bakhtiari has started all 111 games in which he’s appeared throughout his brilliant career. He’s also one of the primary reasons MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers has seen better pass protection as of late.
Heading into Week 10, Rodgers had been sacked just nine times in eight games. Remember, it was not too long ago that the Super Bowl-winning signal caller was among the most pressured in the NFL. That’s obviously no longer the case. According to Pro Football Focus, Bakhtiari has yet to allow a single sack this season.
NFL contracts: Offensive tackles
This is a position that has seen the market reset itself in a huge way over the past year or so. It makes sense given the importance of blindside protectors in today’s NFL.
Just look at the average annual salaries.
- David Bakhtiari: $23 million
- Laremy Tunsil: $22 million
- Lane Johnson: $18 million
- Trent Brown: $16.5 million
- Anthony Castonzo: $16.5 million
Good teams value left tackles. Good teams find a way to keep them long term. These Packers are just the latest example of that.