For the first time since 2008, the Green Bay Packers are expected to have a new starting quarterback other than Hall of Famer quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose trade to the New York Jets is nearing completion.
Four-time NFL MVP Rodgers, 39, stated his intention to end his journey with the Packers and set off on a new adventure in the Big Apple on The Pat McAfee Show last month. However, a speedy trade hasn’t been able to take place, with the two NFL franchises needing to thrash out an agreement with Rodgers not a free agent.
The Packers are set to invest in backup QB Jordan Love to take over from the legendary Rodgers but the smoothness of a successful rebuild is unknown according to star left tackle David Bakhtiari.
“We're moving on from a Hall of Fame quarterback," Bakhtiari said on Mike Silver's "Open Mike" podcast. “I literally today talked to Jordan (Love) about this. I'm like, 'The Packers rebuilt from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers.' What are we going to say? It's not a rebuild? Like, that is what that is.
“And that's totally fine. I'm not saying that we're going to be bad. I'm not saying we're going to be good. I don't know and that's the beauty. No one really knows how good they are. We start the season, everyone is batting 1.000. No one has any losses. No one has any wins. And let the season play out however it may be."
Bakhtiari expects teething problems with Love, who is in his third year as a pro with ten games of NFL experience and only one start to his name. But Bakhtiari remembers Rodgers experiencing similar issues, going 6-10 in his first year before winning his one and only Super Bowl to date two years later.
“His first year what did he go, like 6-10, I want to say," Bakhtiari added. “There's still a transition period in that. Like, you have to build your team."
Bakhtiari remains one of the best left tackles in the NFL but hasn’t played a full season since 2019, featuring just 11 times in 2022. He too, like Rodgers, could spark a search for the next long-term Packers solution when his cap number shoots up to $40.6 million (£32.5m) in 2024. The two parties will have to decide whether to stick and extend, or twist and part ways. Regardless of his future at the Packers, Bakhtiari has expressed his desire to keep playing in the NFL.
"By the restructures that we've done collectively, the Packers and I, we've pretty much put ourselves in a predicament where it's gonna be either cutting me or extending me," the 31-year-old said. "That's gonna be mutually decided upon, not today, not sometime in the near future. I think it's gonna come down to, if I had to guess, as we play throughout the season, where I fit moving forward, and then also on my end where I want to be in my career and my life moving forward."
