A Packers-Broncos trade to replace David Bakhtiari once and for all

Over the last three NFL seasons, David Bakhtiari played a grand total of 13 regular-season games for the Green Bay Packers. While he may have been an All-Pro during the COVID year, he only played in 12 games back in 2020. Not since 2019 has he been able to start every game of the season for Green Bay. This is a big reason why he remains unsigned this deep into free agency. He is not reliable.

With the Packers poised to make a run this season in Jordan Love's second year as the full-time starting quarterback, it would probably serve Green Bay to get him a book-end tackle to better keep him upright and see how far he can go in the postseason. One team that I think could be open for business ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft would have to be the Denver Broncos. They have Garett Bolles.

Here is what a potential trade could look like to get Bolles to Green Bay and be done with Bahktiari.

Bolles accounts for $17 million APY, so we have to make the money work to get this deal off the ground. Since Denver is largely expected to have another down season, the Broncos could look to recoup draft capital, especially if they were to want to trade up for a quarterback ahead of where they are picking at No. 12. In this deal, the Broncos gain picks No. 25, No. 58 and No. 202 from Green Bay.

This move strengthens the Packers' title chances, as well as accelerates Denver's rebuilding process.

How to get Garett Bolles onto the Green Bay Packers in a massive trade

Trading Bolles to Green Bay would further illustrate that Denver has begun an honest rebuilding effort. It may not work out well for general manager George Paton. How sure are we that head coach Sean Payton will want to stick around for that? He did briefly retire because he wasn't interested in doing that when he previously coached the New Orleans Saints only a few years ago.

But with that in mind, that is the right thing to do for the Broncos. They are about to be oh, so very bad once again. If the New York Jets were to catch lightning in a bottle, Denver would then have the longest active playoff drought streak in football. This is a proud AFC franchise that was never bad in my lifetime up until Peyton Manning retired after defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

For Green Bay, the Packers have rarely even had a down year in my life. However, it has been over a decade since they last won the NFC. It was only Aaron Rodgers' third season as their starting quarterback. Neither Bolles or even Bahktiari had even made their NFL debuts at that point. For me, getting Bolles indicates that Green Bay wants to challenge Detroit and San Francisco in the NFC now.

It may be a little pricey for the Packers, but they have to recognize their Super Bowl is now back open.