The head coach of the Green Bay Packers speaks out over a player’s future with the team.

With David Bakhtiari, the Green Bay Packers will have to make a difficult choice this offseason. When healthy, he could still rank among the NFL’s top left tackles, as seen in Week 1. Unfortunately, because of his persistent knee problems, Bakhtiari was only able to play in one game this season.

But LaFleur made a statement today outlining Bakhtiari’s prospects while wearing a Packers uniform.

According to Ryan Wood of USA Today: Matt LaFleur keeping things open with David Bakhtiari: “I mean, he’s a hell of a player, right? He is a hell of a player, and he had a big-time injury. So I’m sure we’ll evaluate that, get more information, talk to Dave, and those decisions will be made in the near future.”

The Packers and David Bakhtiari have had an interesting relationship over the past few seasons. Bakhtiari tore his ACL in December of 2020, which had a major impact on his career; as a result, he will only have played in one game in two of the last three seasons (2021 and 2023). In 2022, Bakhtiari played 11 games before his season was again cut short due to knee issues.

The Packers would most likely love to have him guard Jordan Love’s blindside if they have faith in his ability to both recover and perform at a high level.

Additionally, it has been noted that Bakhtiari appears to wish to go back to Green Bay. First brought to our attention by Wisconsin Sports Heroics’ Robin Adams:

The reality is that in Jordan Love, the Packers appear to have found their next franchise quarterback. The young wide outs he surrounds himself with seem to be developing into really good players as well. Therefore, the organization’s next task is to ensure he is suitably protected.

Bakhtiari demonstrated that he still one of the NFL’s top left tackles when he took the field in Week One. Neither Yosh Nijman nor Rasheed Walker have been able to seize the role permanently while he has been away.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that Green Bay will proceed with either at this position. Walker might want a bit more experience, and Nijman will be a free agent anyhow. With one of the greatest tackles in Packers history as your mentor, who could be better?

And it seems like Bakhtiari has it in mind as well.