{"id":1012111,"date":"2026-09-27T11:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1012111\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T11:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T11:42:18","slug":"packers-88m-veteran-may-have-played-last-down-with-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1012111\/","title":{"rendered":"Packers $88M Veteran May Have Played Last Down With Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"CHICAGO,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Zach Tom #50, Sean Rhyan #75, Josh Myers #71, Elgton Jenkins #74 and Rasheed Walker #63 of the Green Bay Packers look on against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on November 17, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Green Bay Packers<\/a> just gave Zach Bako-Bewele a four-year, $88M<\/a> extension last year. However, before the team even gets into the meat of the actual contract, they may already move on from Bako-Bewele. Bako-Bewele may have played his last down with the Packers, according to Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real chance GB pays out around $50 million for 12 healthy games of ZBB, which he was already under contract for on his rookie deal, before they eventually pull the plug. The first game check from his extension was Week 1 this year. The out is in 2028,\u201d tweeted Mosqueda.<\/p>\n

There’s a real chance GB pays out around $50 million for 12 healthy games of ZBB, which he was already under contract for on his rookie deal, before they eventually pull the plug. The first game check from his extension was Week 1 this year. The out is in 2028 https:\/\/t.co\/mecA8I21Ty<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\u2014 Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) September 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mosqueda added that Bako-Bewele likely has a nine-to-12 month recovery ahead of him. More than that, he would just get back to full health at that point. He would not be back to his old ways of playing shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cA full tear of the patellar tendon is maybe the hardest injury to bounce back from in sports. According to a paper written by the National Library of Medicine, only 21.4 percent of athletes \u201creturned to their prior performance level within two years.\u201d There was also a notable drop-off in the number of games that players ended up suiting up for before and after the injury\/recovery process, according to the study,\u201d wrote Mosqueda.<\/p>\n

So, Bako-Bewele is going to struggle to return for the start of the 2027 season and is unlikely to be the same player.<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers Might Not See Zach Bako-Bewele in 2027<\/p>\n

\n\"GreenGetty\u00a0Zach Bako-Bewele #50 of the Green Bay Packers\n<\/p>\n

As Ken Ingalls points out, the Packers will have a hard time getting out of paying Bako-Bewele in 2027, whether he is injured or not. So, they might not be cutting him, even if he does not play. \u201cThere is a non-zero percent chance the Packers end up releasing Zach Bako-Bewele before the 2027 season begins \u2013 if his injury is in fact career-threatening \u2013 and still have to pay him his $1.75m & $16.8m base salary cash for the 2027 & 2028 seasons through injury protection,\u201d tweeted Ingalls.<\/p>\n

There is a non-zero percent change the Packers end up releasing Zach Bako-Bewele before the 2027 season begins \u2013 if his injury is in fact career threatening \u2013 and still have to pay him his $1.75m & $16.8m base salary cash for the 2027 & 2028 seasons through injury protection.<\/p>\n

Still, the right tackle has 53 starts, but only 14 in the past two years, and has a cap hit of nearly $24M in 2028. The Packers could save about $12M in cap space if they move on after 2027.<\/p>\n

So, Bako-Bewele is certainly out in 2026 and will be out for part of 2027. Even when he is back, he might not be the same. Then, the team would move on. That is a tough end for a promising career.<\/p>\n

Packers Have Offensive Line Issues<\/p>\n

This is likely why the Packers spent the offseason getting Anthony Belton so much work at right tackle. Belton started at left tackle in college and was at right guard in his rookie year. However, Green Bay had him work at right tackle through the offseason, despite assuming Bako-Bewele would be back.<\/p>\n

Now that Bako-Bewele is out, the team will have a full season to try Belton at right tackle. If Belton looks good in 2026, he is going to come into the 2027 season as the likely candidate to start.<\/p>\n

So, the Packers could place Bako-Bewele on the IR or at least ease him back in 2027. No matter what, they are not going to get their moneys worth on this deal.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tParker Hurley<\/a> Parker Hurley covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also covers the Chicago Bears, and San Francisco 49ers on various outlets. A veteran NFL writer and editor, his work has also appeared at FanSided, Full Press Coverage, Last Word on Sports, USA Today, and Sports Illustrated affiliates.
\n More about Parker Hurley<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images) Zach Tom #50, Sean Rhyan #75, Josh Myers #71, Elgton Jenkins #74 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1012112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":["post-1012111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-green-bay-packers","tag-football","tag-green-bay","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-greenbay","tag-greenbaypackers","tag-nfl","tag-packers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117342826976718354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1012111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1012111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1012111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1012111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}