Jets fans can cross a certain Aaron Rodgers favorite off of their wish lists.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear Friday the team won’t be trading veteran left tackle David Bakhtiari following recent buzz linking the three-time Pro Bowler to pal Rodgers’ new team.
“First of all, we’re not going to trade David. So just get that out of the way,” Gutekunst said, according to Packers reporter Ryan Wood.
Bakhtiari, 31, was referenced in a Jets report from Outkick’s Armando Salguero on Wednesday that stated, “Rodgers has privately mentioned Bakhtiari as a possible Jets addition. That has included to Bakhtiari himself, per a source.”
Rodgers, who landed with the Jets in April following a blockbuster trade with the Packers, then added Bakhtiari’s handle in an Instagram post this week, when the quarterback gushed over two of his favorite receivers: the Jets’ Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams, a former Packer and current Raider.
Bakhtiari was Rodgers’ Packers teammate for 10 years and is considered to be a close friend of the four-time league MVP.
With Rodgers’ successor, Jordan Love, now taking the reins in Green Bay, Bakhtiari is eager to see what the former first-round pick can do.
“He’s had three years to understand the math of the offense, which is very fortunate for any first-round quarterback to get to watch and see how a first-ballot Hall of Famer and generational talent and a guy who borderline changed the quarterback position and how it’s played. And even the mechanics of even throwing the football. You’re able to see that for three years and then now coming in, so yeah, his baseline for me is way higher,” Bakhtiari said Tuesday on “The Jim Rome Show,” according to NFL.com.
“I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen from him. And I think he’s also understanding that he’s not going to be judged, either, by a first-year quarterback, which is great.”
As for Rodgers and the Jets, although they’re entering the season with championship aspirations, the offensive line has struggled in training camp.
The Jets host the Bills in their season opener on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 11.
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