Packers lose star left tackle David Bakhtiari to a season-ending knee injury in practice, per report
While preparing for a Week 17 matchup against the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers reportedly suffered a major loss in practice on Thursday. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network first reported that Packer’s star left tackle David Bakhtiari suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice. The consensus belief is that he, unfortunately, tore his ACL, which will be a massive hit to the Packer’s offensive line because the injury will cause Bakhtiari to miss the Packers’ 2020 postseason run. After Bakhtiari was a surprising addition to the injury report on Thursday, the Packers said that he was a limited participant with a knee injury, but the team offered no other details leaving speculation as to what the injury could be.
Back in November, the 29-year-old veteran agreed to a four-year extension worth up to $105.5 million. The deal made history by making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history with an average base salary of $23 million. Bakhtiari has made three bowls since he was drafted in 2013 in the fourth round out of Colorado. Bakhtiari has only played two seasons in which he has not started all 16 games and this season-ending injury will make it his third.
Bakhtiari has been consistently one of the best pass-blocking tackles in the NFL and this season was no different. According to PFF or Pro Football Focus, Bakhtiari has allowed just one sack on 420 snaps when protecting Aaron Rodgers in the pocket.
Rodgers who is having an MVP caliber is certainly going to miss having the All-Pro tackle protecting his blind side, but as Rapoport notes, the Packers do have some options when it comes to replacing him. Three options are right tackle Billy Turner, left guard Elgton Jenkins or Rick Wagner who could all step up. But whoever is going to replace him will have some major shoes to fill, and regardless this is a huge blow to a Packers team that has their sights set on winning another Lombardi Trophy.
