Green Bay Packers have a lot of potential free agents in 2021. Those free agents are some of the more premier players for Green Bay. They took care of one of those players yesterday. In the late afternoon, the news broke that Packers were giving an extension to David Bakhtiari with a four-year 105 million dollar deal. That is a major move by Green Bay for the future of their franchise. Why Green Bay made a wise decision here to pay Bakhtiari and what this means for the other free agents in 2021.

When watching Green Bay in the past couple of weeks without Bakhtiari, a thought in my head started to trickle in that Green Bay didn’t need to pay Bakhtiari. This offensive line looked competent and was one of the best in the National Football League. Moreover, I started to point out that maybe Bakhtiari should ask for less than Laremy Tunsil as that contract was an aberration. These last few sentences are why I’m writing this on my couch and not hanging out at 1265 Lombardi. All of these things were thrown in the trash with Bakhtiari getting 23 million per year beating out Tunsil’s contract as well as doing the deal.

Green Bay doesn’t typically give a third contract for an offensive lineman, but Bakhtiari is the exception. It is rare to find a left tackle that is good as Bakhtiari. Time and again, he is the best left tackle in football. You do not let a player like that slide out the door. Even with the large contract, it is obvious that Bakhtiari was the top priority and everything started with him. Now, that this deal is done, the Packers might look to making deals for other 2021 free agents.

David Bakhtiari contract extension estimate (95% sure on details)

2020 cap increase: $1,552,941
2021 cap: $19,447,059

They will restructure his 2021 roster bonus to reduce the 2021 salary cap hit by another $8.3M.

The base salaries & bonuses in years 3-5 could vary slightly pic.twitter.com/TlMK2WzpD6

— Ken Ingalls – Packers Cap 💰 (@KenIngalls) November 16, 2020

In the least surprising news in the world, Russ Ball figured out this contract in a beautiful way. He is making sure that Bakhtiari’s spend is spread out throughout the next five years. This is helpful when they’re trying to decide who else to pay. I would assume that Aaron Jones is the next up to have a conversation. Brian Gutekunst might have already dropped a note to his agent this morning. Corey Linsley is having a good year, but my assumption is he might be an odd man out. There is a reasonable case to bring Kevin King back if he wants to do a one-year deal considering his injuries.

Happy to have Bak as a lifelong Packer. He will have a long career post-Packers doing stuff for Green Bay. It’s a lucrative part that some do not consider when thinking long-term about being in Green Bay.

Charlie.