I understand they did the "Clean Up" of the knee last year but I'm really starting to wonder now myself if Bakhtiari didn't actually sustain another injury to his knee last year vs Detroit. Whatever the case is it just sucks.

At this point I think that it’s time to plan as if Bakh is not coming back unless the team knows something that we do not, and it looks to me as if they do not have any clearer picture. It is a blow, but that is football. Time to take what we have and do the best with it that we can.

If Bakh can pass a physical at some point, I don’t think the question is at what level he can play but if he can. If he does manage to get back, for how long is he likely to stay healthy would be the issue. Snap counts for a LT aren’t particularly workable and a suspect knee only takes one. This likely isn’t a pain issue but a physical capability one.

From a contract standpoint, the team is stuck with it, so there is not much Gute or Ball can do in terms of freeing up cap. Since he’s on PUP he won’t take up a roster space in season if he remains out. He’s under no obligation to alter his contract: it was a risk the team took to retain a premier player and freely bargained for. Again, any adjustments would be a bonus, not something we should count on.

The Packers have to move on with the roster and cap we have and maybe he will surprise us as a bonus, but not one to rely on happening or being sustained if it does.

The fact that the Packers let Turner go indicated to me that they thought Bahktiari would be back and fully healthy. That means the Docs were telling the Packers that the knee is structurally sound and they expected a full recovery. Unfortunately there seems to be some sort of soft tissue injury or irritation that is not healing properly and keeping Bahk from playing. How long that situation continues is anybody's guess. A really crappy outcome for both Bahktiari and the Packers.

My guess is that the Packers ride with the situation for most of this season to see if the soft tissue injury finally heals. If not, Bahk has played his last game with the Packers and probably in his career. They are going to take the cap hit either way as Bahk has zero incentive to renegotiate.

Regretfully, the Packers have no choice but to wait things out. Walking away is not an option because of dead cap issues. I am resolved to the idea that it may actually take another year to find out if Bakh can play again. 😕

Years ago I had an older boss repeatedly state "timing is everything". Could there have been better timing for David Bakh to sign his extension? Unbelievable!

While he is a great person, teammate, & a very good LT I'm not going to stress about it. Injuries happen and the Packers have a lot of talent invested on the OL. Regardless of Bakh they will be fine. Yes, they will struggle against the Vikings DL (Hunter & Zadarius), and some teams early until Jenkins come back but that is the nature of the sport. Who is the next man up? If the Pack is going to be more of a running game anyway this year his replacement might be better at that phase of the game vs Bakh.

I just hope we can get Bakhtiari back playing again. Our OL misses him. The last 2 playoff losses I think can be on the fact that Bakhtiari was not playing. Him no playing affects the whole OL and offense. And then obviously missing both him and Jenkins really hurts.

Hopefully we can get some young guys going pretty fast though. We drafted 3 guys who can play OT. We may need all 3 of them to play OT.
I do find it interesting that on Packers.com they have Rhyan and Walker listed as T's. Zach Tom as OL. I do find that part interesting. May mean something, may mean nothing. But I think this year we are going to be counting Rhyan and Tom to be ready to play. When drafted i was thinking Rhyan would be OG and Tom would be OT. But it could be the other way. Either way they added depth to the OL. Hopefully they are ready to go though.

[UPDATE: I answered my own questions in the comment below, but I'll leave this here, just so people can understand the replies.]

To be honest, I don't really get how the PUP list is helpful to anyone here. It is my understanding that PUP list players in preseason DO COUNT against the 90-man preseason roster - the roster exemption only kicks in at the start of the regular season. So it's not like the Packers will be able to bring in an extra body during preseason because Bakh is on the PUP.

If this is about the Packers wanting to "err on the side of caution," how does putting a guy on PUP actually help with that? Why can't the team just hold the guy out of the drills or the parts of practice that are a bit dangerous? But if the guy is on PUP, then it is REQUIRED that the guy cannot practice. So the team kind of ties its hands that way. The PUP guy can't practice, even if you want him to, as long as he is on PUP.

And if you put him on the PUP and then take him off, you can't put him back on the PUP again.

So why put Bakh on PUP? What is the advantage?

PUP can only be used for football related injuries, so the Packers are already admitting that they are on the hook for Bakh's injury. Do you put a guy on PUP so that the player can't claim that training camp made his injury worse, and that might affect the settlement? I dunno...

Someone with actual brains should help me out here. Maybe TGR's got the grey matter for it. All I really know is that this ain't good.

We would like a candid assessment, but information is at a premium in the NFL. There's no benefit to the Packers sharing any more than they have.

It seems likely the team is being having honest, open and frank discussions with both Bakhtiari and his doctors as to his status. Are they going to share this information with the public? Very doubtful. Why should they? This is on a "need to know" basis, and we don't need to know. We'd certainly like to have more info, but it's not going to happen. Hopefully, the team has contingency plans in place in case of Bakhtiari not being able to start for a few games.

15 knee Drains. 2 years of frustration. Age= He'll never be that All-Pro again. The NFL will constantly drug test him. (For Pain Killers) Wish all you want. But it's time to move on.

I agree with others here, that the staff doesn't need to be public (or in your words, honest) about pre-season, until the team actually needs to make a decision. Then, they'll let us know by the 53 man roster.

Constant fluid buildup in a surgically repaired knee is emblematic of other structural and/or debris issues in the joint.

Joint surgeries are very often effective...but as my doctor tells me, the knee is never the same (as healthy or sound). But the bad news is the reconstruction can fail too, causing a cascade of structural issues around the repaired tissue.

I hope not. But this is not foreshadowing quick return to the lineup. Not good.

You can handle the honesty.

1. The contract extension has worked out poorly for the Packers. It was a gamble that we could squeeze a few more years out of a Pro Bowl LT who wasn't 30 yet. Then he immediately took a bad injury. We're trying to mitigate the loss as best we can and if he can eventually play, that helps. Otherwise, we've come up craps on this.

2. It's officially a mistake to regard him as our starting LT. IMO, Yosh Nijman is our starting LT until somebody better is available.

3. Capwise, Bakh costs us about $13 million this year. I do not know how all the future guaranteed money is affected if he retires or is physically unable to play but $60,000,000 was guaranteed. Uggggghhh.

4. As a guy who likes win/win/win scenarios, this is about as ugly as it gets. Our best hopes are that Nijman can play well so we don't miss Bakhtiari as much on the field. The financial stuff is going to need to be figured out by people smarter than me.

I've had a BAD feeling about Bakh for some time. Now I have a worse feeling.
One thing for sure, IMHO: This offense is now in the (very capable) hands of Adam Stenavic.
And perhaps the right side of the offensive line will NOT have the biggest battles in camp.
The Szotman

All I know is that once you're in the knee club you're always in the knee club. Took me a year to start feeling better. Still have swelling on rainy days. Sometimes chunks break off and float around grinding or lock up the knee. It was always better when I do something athletic. Ski, play basketball, hike, run, anything, It doesn't bother me till after. It will take him time to get used to it and admit he's a member of the club, then he'll be ok. I pray, because we see what happens in the playoffs when you don't have pro-bowl caliber people on the line.

ps- no disrepsect to Wendell F.'s article.
The Szotman

I'm scared we've seen the last of the player we know as All-Pro 69.

While i find the questions and points raised to be relevant, I can’t imagine that the parties involved are not being honest with each other. And, I can’t imagine that anyone who is involved in the decision to place him on PUP, is not equally disappointed. I am sorry, but the fans are not required to be kept in the loop at this level of personnel decision making. Plus there’s probably a lot of uncertainty still at this point. As far as guaranteed money is concerned, thems the breaks. Bakhtiari far outperformed his rookie contract, so he’ll make it on the back end. High injury risk rates are the reason GMs wanted to keep guaranteed money out of the NFL, and why players so desperately want it.

My two cents. I disagree with the comments that the Packers don't have to say anything. I think they are saying something. Bact can't play period. Thus he is on the pup because he can't go and they know it. Going forward who knows.
Money wise this is a huge mess. I don't know if they did a medical buyout do they recoup some of the money from the league.
As far as I'm concerned he is done so if he comes back that's a big plus. Team gave away to much for a 30 year old