The question of whether or not the Green Bay Packers are rebuilding varies depending on who you talk to in the locker room.
Last week, running back Aaron Jones said “You’ve got the wrong team, the wrong place” if you think the Packers are rebuilding. This week, left tackle David Bakhtiari said it’s disrespectful to call it anything else after losing a player like Aaron Rodgers.
“To me, flat out how I look at it, it’s disrespectful to say you’re not rebuilding off of a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Bakhtiari said after OTAs on Wednesday. “It was disrespectful to say you weren’t rebuilding off of Brett Favre when you moved to Aaron. No one knew who Aaron was going to be, so I’m not going to sit here and 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 essentially doubled down on what he said during an appearance on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast in April.
“The Packers are rebuilding, whether you think so or not.”
“Could they be good? I don’t know,” he continued. “Could they be bad? Probably, if you’re betting, more people are going to think they’re going to be bad than good. Isn’t that fair to say?”
Naturally, the rebuild remarks got a rise out of the fanbase, but his referring to the Packers as “they” instead of “we” also warranted a strong reaction.
Bakhtiari didn’t think much of it. As one might say, he enjoys stirring the pot. He’s not distancing himself from the team now that he is back in Green Bay after missing the first round of OTAs. And even though the public may have a lot to say about his comments, he hasn’t caught any grief from his teammates.
“It was exactly what it was. I haven’t heard anything inside this locker room. No one’s had an issue. Again, you can take it and cut it which any way you want. I have fun with it. I think it’s fun at this point to see where things can lead.”
Speaking of where things can lead, that is the best part of all the rebuild talk, according to Bakhtiari. The Packers are venturing into the unknown with Jordan Love taking over as the starting quarterback, but until Week 1, everyone is batting a 1.000.
“That’s the beauty of it. That’s what football is,” he said.
