The Green Bay Packers learned a valuable lesson about the importance of Tucker Kraft last season when they lost him for the full season due to a devastating new injury. Green Bay's recent stance relating to the star tight end's contract shows they didn't really learn their lesson.
Kraft has returned to the practice field ahead of schedule and is focusing purely on showing the franchise he can be the same player he was prior to his injury. The problem with that is that he's poised to play the last season of his current contract, which only pays him $3.6 million for the season.
Tucker Kraft's return to practice creates a tricky leverage situation with Packers
If Kraft were to suffer another serious injury, then the Packers would be within their right to release him without facing any significant financial penalties. The player, in sharp contrast, is risking tens of millions of dollars in guaranteed money by rejoining practice without a new deal from the team. It's a strategy that might endear him to Packers fans dreaming of Super Bowl glory.
It's also a strategy that makes zero to little market sense for a player with Kraft's amount of leverage. He and his representatives can definitively point to how much quarterback Jordan Love and the team's passing attack suffered without his services last season. They are in a great position to force Green Bay to hand him a new deal that makes him one of the highest-paid tight ends in all of football.
Tucker Kraft understands risk practicing before extension with #Packers, but sole focus is doing what he can to be player he was before injury. Doctors had good news for him on that front: “My knee looks spectacular. Almost like he’s never seen a knee rehabilitation like mine.” pic.twitter.com/0APeoROQwK
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 31, 2026
At the very least, Kraft should be asking for the Packers to give him a deal in line with what Kyle Pitts received this offseason from the Falcons. That contract pays Pitts just under $17 million per season. That's a low-end ask for Kraft provided he is fully healthy heading into Week 1 of the 2026 regular season.
Will the Packers extend Tucker Kraft?
The most likely explanation for Kraft's relaxed approach to his current contract is that he's received some sort of assurances from his front office that a new deal is imminent. A few healthy days on the practice field could be all that's required to bring GM Brian Gutekunst and his staff to the negotiating table.
It still represents a big risk for Kraft that is not worth taking. No one associated with the team could blame him for looking for more financial security after suffering a lost season due to injury. Heading into next year on what is effectively a one-year deal for under $4 million would represent agency malpractice for his representation.
Packers fans should expect to see their dynamic tight end locked up via a new contract sometime in the coming weeks. Kraft just needs to hope the injury bug does not bite him again before he puts pen to paper. A five-year deal for somewhere around $90 million feels like a fair place for both parties to land. That might seem like a lot for a tight end coming off an injury, but the market for the position will only increase over the life of the deal. Kraft is more than good enough to justify being one of the top-five paid players at his position.
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