It appears the Green Bay Packers will have a young starting quarterback under center in 2023. While the Packers won’t get to benefit from Jordan Love‘s cheap rookie deal for long, the team will need to focus on stacking talent around their leading man while they can.
Love has some decent offensive weapons right now, with Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Christian Watson, and Romeo Doubs on the roster, and surely more to come through the draft. His offensive line is solid, giving the first-year starter some breathing room.
But what’s the long-term plan for protecting Love from scary edge rushers? The right side isn’t set yet, though Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom are both solid options. David Bakhtiari proved last season he’s one of the league’s best blindside blockers when healthy, but his contract situation gets complicated next off-season. Do the Packers need to invest in an offensive tackle now to protect Love?
The good news is that the Packers have solid options in 2023 for protecting Love. Bakhtiari’s restructured deal means that No. 69 is here to stay — at least for one more year. While some thought Bakhtiari could join his good friend Aaron Rodgers in New York, the Packers axed that idea by tinkering with his existing contract.
Bakhtiari had a rough road to recovery after his freak ACL tear late in the 2020 season, and an appendectomy took another chunk out of his 2022 season. But, after shaking off a bit of rust, No. 69 was back to his old self. His leg may need to be monitored closely, especially on turf, but Love is in good hands with Bakhtiari protecting him.
On the right side, we aren’t sure who the starter will be, but the Packers have two good options between Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom. Green Bay’s patience with Nijman paid off, and he became a mostly reliable starter. Tom was a revelation as a rookie, able to play wherever the coaching staff asked. His main pro position hasn’t been determined yet—he could be a long-term answer at either tackle spot or at center. Tom needs to add a bit more strength to be a mover in run blocking, but his pass-protection skills are already excellent.
However, three factors could shake things up between now and next season: Nijman’s second-round tender, Tom’s preferred position, and Bakhtiari’s contract.
Nijman’s second-round tender means a team could acquire his services by offering the Packers a second-round pick. This would be a good return for the Packers, who coached Nijman up from a UDFA to a good NFL starter. The free-agent market has been expensive for quality offensive linemen, and a team could certainly opt to pay the draft pick for Nijman’s services. While the capital would be good for Green Bay to build the team around Love, it would mean losing offensive line depth.
The Packers also need to decide their long-term plan for Tom. It’s clear Tom is already one of Green Bay’s best five and needs to be on the field. That means they need to figure out the full puzzle of their preferred starters. Tom could start at right tackle if Nijman is acquired or they choose to keep Nijman as the backup swing tackle. But Tom could also be in play for center, a spot he played in college, if the Packers aren’t happy with Josh Myers.
Green Bay could also view Tom as their future left tackle, which might be the position he’s best suited for. While he wouldn’t take up that mantle in 2023 barring catastrophe, he could easily be the preferred starter there in 2024.
Bakhtiari’s cap hit for 2024 is an extensive $40.5 million thanks to his recent restructure. That’s a whopping amount for one player, especially a non-quarterback. Something will need to happen between now and the start of 2024 free agency, whether that means a trade, extension, or cut.
A fourth extension for a player in Green Bay is almost unheard of, making a trade or a cut more likely (the Packers could save $21.5 million). But if Bakhtiari stays healthy, it’s worth extending him to protect their new face of the franchise. Unfortunately, that’s a wait-and-see situation.
Brian Gutekunst has constantly invested in the offensive line, regardless of need, and will likely continue to do so. There isn’t a team as consistently good at drafting offensive linemen, especially in the later rounds, as Green Bay. But it might be a decent idea to look at tackles early in this draft.
Some, like Daniel Jeremiah, have suggested Ohio State OT Paris Johnson in the first round. Green Bay probably has bigger areas of need, but you can’t always draft for immediate need. It wouldn’t be the direction I’d go with pick No. 15, but if Green Bay is able to get the New York Jets’ first-rounder for Aaron Rodgers, the idea becomes more palpitate.
Still, I think the biggest question is what the team will do with Tom. If he’s viewed as a center, then grab a tackle early. If Green Bay already has a solid idea of what they want to do with Bakhtiari in the future, ditto. But if the team’s plan is to keep this core group around, grabbing someone in the middle rounds and developing them makes more sense. It’s a complicated question right now, but having good offensive tackles on the roster is never a bad thing, especially for a new starting quarterback. Still, there are bigger holes on the roster that need addressing right now.
