Green Bay Packers: David Bakhtiari doesn’t get all the love he deserves

Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari deserves more national love.

Especially after this offseason, there are areas of the Green Bay Packers offense that can be picked apart. Heck, there are even people these days who would criticize quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But one spot that cannot be put into question is the left tackle position because David Bakhtiari remains in that position.

Selected in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Colorado (No. 109 overall), Bakhtiari has developed into arguably the best left tackle in the NFL. He’s been a two-time Pro Bowler, a three-time Second-Team All-Pro selection and was a First-Team All-Pro player in the 2018 season as well. Yet, despite all of the accolades, it feels as if Bakhtiari is underrated from a national perspective.

To be sure, there is no one out there saying that David Bakhtiari isn’t a great modern offensive tackle. Fans in Green Bay know how good he’s been and even some of the national media recognizes how good he’s been. Pro Football Focus recently ranked the top 50 NFL players entering the 2020 season and Bakhtiari came in at No. 42.

PFF praised Bakhtiari as “the gold standard of pass protection”. That stands to reason when you look at a stat like this, noting that he didn’t allow a sack from Week 10 on in the 2019 season. Oh yeah, as PFF also noted, Bakhtiari’s job of protecting Rodgers is also extremely difficult as the quarterback holds onto the ball longer than any other NFL quarterback.

Having said that, when you ask people about the best young offensive tackles in the NFL, they are likely to mention Ronnie Stanley or Laremy Tunsil before getting to Bakhtiari.

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And while those players may be younger, Bakhtiari is just 28 years old and as he’s looking for his third contract in the NFL and has been as good if not better than both of those players. When he signs that deal, though, maybe it’ll get people to start talking.

PSA for the Green Bay Packers: Give Bakhtiari the bag

Perhaps one of the reasons why Bakhtiari is underrated on a national level is simply that he’s largely unassuming. In the case of Stanley, he paved the way for Lamar Jackson to win the MVP last year. With Tunsil, he was part of the high-profile trade last offseason and then signing a mega-extension with the Houston Texans.

Bakhtiari has a different approach. He’s entering the final year of a four-year extension he signed one game into the 2016 season and is due for a lucrative new contract, one that should put him among the highest-paid offensive tackles in the NFL. Yet, he won’t even talk about any negotiations, if there have been any.

When asked about it earlier this offseason, the Packers left tackle was mum on contract talks, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk via Yahoo Sports. Bakhtiari said he wouldn’t talk about it even if they were talking, saying he’s paid to play left tackle for Green Bay and has one more year on his current contract.

Regardless of if Bakhtiari is concerned with the deal or not, he’s going to get paid. And the Packers need to pony up for their guy. At just 29 years old when the 2020 season ends, Bakhtiari is still in his prime. And he’s also been the picture of health to this point, starting in 106 games in his career. They need to bring the bag and drop it off at his doorstep.

Hopefully when they do that or something similar, Bakhtiari will start getting more national love. He’s been an absolute stud since given the opportunity and it’s well past time that the Packers left tackle starts getting talked about more as one of the league’s premier players, not just a topic of conversation for football and O-line nerds.