David Bakhtiari says it's "disrespectful" to say that the Green Bay Packers are not rebuilding following the departure of Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The 39-year-old four-time NFL MVP requested a trade to the New York Jets following the conclusion of the 2022/23 season. Rodgers' move to New Jersey brought an end to his 18-season stay in Green Bay, where he won one Super Bowl.
Green Bay are now looking to start a new chapter with Jordan Love replacing Rodgers as the franchise's star quarterback, and the Packers are hoping their performance doesn't take too much of a hit following their star's departure.
Five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Bakhtiari didn't beat around the bush when addressing the Packers' upcoming season. He says it's "disrespectful" to say the Packers are not rebuilding.
"How I look at is, it's disrespectful to say you're not rebuilding off a Hall of Fame quarterback," Bakhtiari said Wednesday after an OTA practice. "It was disrespectful to say you weren't rebuilding off of Brett Favre when you moved to Aaron.
"No one knew Aaron and what he was going to be, so I'm not going to sit here and like pull back those words because that is when you look at how it's been building, how we were chasing after it, and the cap - there was a bunch of situations that can definitely allude to it - we have a young team."
Bakhtiari pointed toward the Seattle Seahawks' season following the trade of their QB Russell Wilson before the 2022 campaign. The Seahawks made the NFL Play-Offs, proving that a losing season may not be on the cards for Green Bay. "I think the Seahawks rebuilt off of Russell [Wilson], look how that turned out," Bakhtiari said. "I can also give you the other side of the coin.
"I don't know it off the top of my head, but that's how I look at, and it's a simple way to put it. We can splice it, cut it, make it look like who wants to be the hero or the villain on that word, but that's really what I mean."
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst refuses to use the term "rebuild" and says Green Bay still has the same objectives it had when Rodgers was their star QB. "No, I don't ever look [at] it like that," Gutekunst said in April. "We're excited about this football team and where it can go. Obviously, we're a long ways away from what our 53-man roster and our 16-man practice squad is going to look like, but we're really excited about it.
"It's going to be new, obviously, specifically at quarterback, it looks like. But at the same time, the goals don't change around here. It's going to be the same goals we've always had, right?
"There's one goal here every single year, no matter what. And just like it was back the last time we moved on from one quarterback to the other, right?
"The goals are the same. It's going to be on those guys to put in the work. It's going to be exciting to see. Nothing's really changing."
