Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari enters the final year of his contract, trying to position himself for a third contract with the team that drafted him in the fourth round.
Bakhtiari was one game into the final year of his rookie contract in 2016 when he signed a four-year, $48 million extension. On Tuesday, Bakhtiari wouldn’t say whether his representation and the Packers have begun talks on another extension.
“Even if I were to be talking, I wouldn’t disclose that information,” Bakhtiari said, via Ryan Wood of packersnews.com.
This offseason, the Texans signed left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a three-year, $66 million million deal, and the Colts gave Anthony Castonzo a two-year, $33 million contract.
Bakhtiari’s 2016 extension, a top-five deal at the time, now ranks 12th among left tackles in average annual salary.
“At the end of the day,” Bakhtiari said, “I look to how I did in ’16. I get paid to play. I’m the left tackle, and I’m under contract for another season, and that’s what I’m focused on. Whatever the organization decides they want to do moving forward with me, we can have that conversation when it’s there. But, yeah, as of right now, I’m just focusing on making sure I play good football whenever it comes up, because the times right now have definitely been different. So I think a lot of guys right now are changing their preparation and process so that’s been taking the center stage.
“I’m not really thinking about what goes into the next step, because I need to make sure I take this right step that’s happening right now.”
Bakhtiari, 28, is a two-time Pro Bowler and earned All-Pro honors in 2018.