Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst quashed trade rumors involving left tackle David Bakhtiari on Friday.
“First off, we’re not going to trade David,” Gutekunst said Friday. “So let’s just get that out of the way because I know there’s been a little bit of chatter about that, and it’s not going to happen.”
Bakhtiari, 31, is entering his 11th season with the Packers, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2013.
The three-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro first-team selection has made 130 regular season starts for Green Bay, although a knee injury limited him to one start in 2021 and 11 in 2022. He has had four surgeries since tearing his left ACL in December 2020.
“I think Dave’s a pro’s pro,” Gutekunst said. “What he went through was tough — it was tough on our football team, it was tough on him — and I think he’s really in a good place right now of understanding what he needs to do to get ready to play.”
Bakhtiari did not play in last week’s preseason opener at Cincinnati and is not expected to participate in Sunday’s preseason game against New England.
In March, the Packers converted $5.5 million of Bakhtiari’s 2023 base salary and his $9.5 million roster bonus into a combined $15 million signing bonus. According to Spotrac, he carries salary cap hits of $21.3 million this season and $40.5 million in 2024.