The Green Bay Packers have signed T David Bakhtiari to a contract extension. The signing was announced Tuesday by Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations.
Bakhtiari (bock-tee-R-ee), who was drafted out of the University of Colorado in the fourth round (109th overall) by the Packers with the first of three fourth-round selections in 2013, has started 47 regular-season games and four postseason contests at left tackle in his career. His 47 starts since the start of the 2013 season are the second most on the Green Bay line over that span (T.J. Lang, 48 starts).
Bakhtiari has been part of a line that cleared the way for RB Eddie Lacy to record 3,075 rushing yards from 2013-15, making Lacy the second player (RB John Brockington, 3,276, 1971-73) in franchise history to rush for 3,000-plus yards in their first three seasons in the NFL. Bakhtiari started all 14 contest he appeared in last season and helped block for Lacy (758) and James Starks (601), who became the first Green Bay duo since 1985 to both rush for 600-plus yards in the same season.
In 2014, Bakhtiari was named a Pro Bowl alternate after starting all 16 games for an offense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in points per game (30.4), No. 6 in yards per game (386.1) and tied for No. 1 in giveaways with a franchise-record 13. He started every game at left tackle in 2013, becoming the first rookie to do so for Green Bay since the league went to a 16-game schedule in 1978.
