{"id":861304,"date":"2026-04-08T17:36:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861304\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:36:58","slug":"packers-now-looking-at-a-lucky-break-in-tucker-kraft-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/861304\/","title":{"rendered":"Packers Now Looking at a Lucky Break in Tucker Kraft Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the last items the Green Bay Packers must complete on their offseason checklist is signing tight end Tucker Kraft to a contract extension. During his end-of-season press conference, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters<\/a> he was already speaking with the tight end\u2019s camp about a new deal.<\/p>\n

The former third-round pick was on pace to have a career year in 2025 before a season-ending knee injury derailed it in Week 9. Kraft had 32 receptions (44 targets) for 489 yards and six TDs in eight games. If he stayed healthy, the Packers\u2019 standout tight end would\u2019ve projected to finish with 68 receptions (94 targets) for 1,039 yards and 13 TDs.<\/p>\n

As for Kraft\u2019s potential extension, it is not clear what his value is coming off a torn ACL. The Packers probably wanted to see what Kyle Pitts would get from the Atlanta Falcons. <\/p>\n

Pitts was given the franchise tag,<\/a> which is a one-year deal worth $15M if he signs it. But at the time, it was reported that the two sides would try to work out a long-term contract before the July 15 deadline. But the latest news involving Pitts could actually benefit the Packers and Kraft if they want to get a deal done sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

Kyle Pitts Just Gave Packers Unexpected Help in Tucker Kraft Talks<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported<\/a> that Pitts signed the franchise tag and will show up for workouts. Rapoport adds that both parties can still hammer out a deal, but he\u2019s guaranteed at least $15.045M.<\/p>\n

The Packers should be rejoicing that Pitts hasn\u2019t signed his new deal yet, as he could\u2019ve reset the TE market, which would\u2019ve impacted Kraft\u2019s contract talks. <\/p>\n

According to Spotrac, Pitts\u2019 calculated market value<\/a> is a four-year, $43.3 million ($10.8M AAV) deal, which will not be the case with him getting a guaranteed $15M. As for Kraft, his market value is projected<\/a> to be a four-year, $62M ($15.5M), which is actually more in line with what Pitts could get from the Falcons.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in free agency, we saw Isaiah Likely get a three-year, $40 million deal from the New York Giants, which equals out to a $13.3M AAV. Kraft should command more than even though he and Likely, who were part of the same draft class, have similar career numbers. Remember, Kraft missed his rookie season because of injury.<\/p>\n

Kraft: 113 receptions (154 targets) for 1,551 yards and 15 TDs in 42 games<\/p>\n

Likely: 135 receptions (194 targets) for 1,568 yards and 15 TDs in 63 games<\/p>\n

With all that in mind, the Packers should be racing to get this deal done as soon as possible. If Green Bay can lock him in at $15.5M AAV or even $16M, that would place him behind<\/a> George Kittle ($19.1M AAV), Trey McBride ($19M AAV), and T.J. Hockenson ($16.5M AAV).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a risky investment for Green Bay coming off a torn ACL, but Kraft has clearly shown he has TE1 upside. They should want to be the first to get a deal done and not let the market dictate Kraft\u2019s value.<\/p>\n

More Green Bay Packers News and Rumors:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the last items the Green Bay Packers must complete on their offseason checklist is signing tight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-861304","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-greenbay","12":"tag-greenbaypackers","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116370305460281667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861304","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=861304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}