The Green Bay Packers could have cut left tackle David Bakhtiari already. After all, if they intend to use the cap space from the move, there is little reason to wait until right before the new league year. Moreover, teams tend to give veteran players some time ahead of free agency to explore the market.

So if the Packers are still waiting, perhaps there is a chance the team is willing to keep their longest-tenured player.

During his media availability during the NFL Combine, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst shared a glimpse of his thought process.

"I don't like to make decisions before I have to,” Gutekunst said, indicating that the NFL world is volatile enough.

Why wait?

First of all, the Packers can't open cap space keeping Bakhtiari on the roster without his agreement. There's no future void years on his contract to allow a simple restructure. So, the only way for the Packers to create room unilaterally would be by releasing Bakhtiari, which would open $21.5 million in cap space.

So, potentially, the wait happens because the Packers are trying to do some sort of negotiation, be it with other teams or with Bakhtiari's representation.

Contract

Bakhtiari's cap hit in 2024 is slated to be $40.018 million. But let's forget that number for a minute, because $19.065 million of that is from money already paid that will hit the cap anyway.

The flexible number is the $21.5 million Bakhtiari is set to earn this season. That's the value, for instance, the Packers would free up by releasing him.

And that's not a guaranteed figure. If Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball find a common ground with Bakhtiari, it's possible to reduce that and keep him around, even without an extension.

The most realistic scenario would be Bakhtiari taking a real paycut, from $21.4 million for something like $10 million or $12 million, depending on what the market dictates, with a chance of recouping some of the original salary via incentives based on playing time. That's more or less what the Buffalo Bills did on Wednesday when adjusting Von Miller's contract, and what the Packers themselves did with Preston Smith.

An extension isn't necessary to make it happen, even though the Packers could add void years to reduce the cap hit on top of the paycut.

Why would Bakhtiari agree to that?

At this point, Bakhtiari's agents know what the left tackle would get in free agency. And it's probably not close to the $21.4 million he's slated to get from the Packers, considering he has played only 13 games over the last three years.

If no other team is willing to pay more than $10 million, for example, it makes sense for Bakhtiari to accept a $10 million paycut from the Packers. He would earn $11.5 million, more than he would elsewhere, and the Packers would still open $10 million in cap space this year.

Sure, this is all speculation and these numbers are examples of what can be done. But there is a realistic scenario for the Packers to keep Bakhtiari for one more season.

A trade is also possible, if a team is willing to absorb Bakhtiari's current salary or able to negotiate a revised version of the deal.

Gutekunst said he wanted a resolution for this case before the new league year, which is next week. There's not much time left, but the possibilities are multiple.

Five potential scenarios for the Packers and David Bakhtiari

Left tackle has been in Green Bay since 2013