3 Contract Restructure Candidates for Packers to Free Up Cap Space
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers contract restructure candidate: David Bakhtiari
Unfortunately, we saw very little of David Bakhtiari this season—just 27 snaps in Week 18, to be exact. While it was a very small sample size, Bakhtiari did look to be in old form against Detroit, but his knee never allowed him to return fully.
Bakhtiari would speak with Cheesehead TV following the season and mentioned that the structure of his ACL and meniscus was sound, the issue this season was that the swelling in his knee never went away. Bakhtiari would tell Aaron Nagler that he had to have his knee drained of fluid 15 times over the course of the Green Bay Packers season. Ultimately, it never quite felt right.
Like Kenny Clark, Bakhtiari signed an extension during the 2020 season, which briefly made him the highest-paid offensive tackle in football. It was a four-year deal worth $92 million.
This season, Bakhtiari comes with a cap hit of $22.2 million and a base salary of $3.2 million—so there isn’t a whole lot that can be converted from that portion of his contract. He does, however, have a $9.5 million roster bonus that can be reworked.
Once again, Ken Ingalls via Packers Wire provides us with the salary cap insight, saying that Green Bay could save over $9 million in 2022 cap space if they convert Bakhtiari’s roster bonus.