The Green Bay Packers‘ offensive line has struggled through injuries all season long, none more serious than the torn patellar tendon that right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele suffered in his right knee in Week 2, which could signal the end of his time with the franchise in a worst-case scenario.
Bako-Bewele is among the best right tackles in the NFL when he’s healthy, but he has not been for the past two seasons after inking a four-year, $88 million extension that kicked in at the beginning of the current campaign.
He missed five total games last season including the final three outings of the year, which came after Bako-Bewele sustained a partial tear of the same patellar tendon he injured again during a contest against the New York Jets in September.
When all is said and done at the end of this campaign, he will have played a total of 14 contests across two years and missed 20 regular-season games as well as the Packers’ one playoff outing in January. If Green Bay earns a spot in the postseason again in 2026-27, Bako-Bewele will ultimately miss more than 60 percent of the team’s total games across a two-year span.
Zach Bako-Bewele Still Has 3 Years Remaining on Current Contract With Packers
A former fourth-round pick out of Wake Forest in the 2022 NFL draft, Bako-Bewele is just 27 years old. He also has three years remaining on his current contract after this season.
However, social media-based salary cap analyst Ken Ingalls wrote on Wednesday, November 11 that there is a legitimate chance the Packers will cut ties with Bako-Bewele come next offseason.
“There is a real possibility he’s played his last snap in Green Bay,” Ingalls wrote in response to a question from an X user. “If that’s the case, there are zero good options. I can go over specifics as we get closer to next season, but moving on from contracts of injured players adds significantly complexity.”
Zach Bako-Bewele Dealing With Among Most Difficult Injuries in Sports
The Packers no doubt prefer to keep Bako-Bewele if possible, but the relevant questions involve how serious his current patellar tendon injury is as well as how notoriously difficult it has proven for players to get all the way back to top form after suffering one such affliction — let alone two.
“A full tear of the patellar tendon is maybe the hardest injury to bounce back from in sports,” Justis Mosqueda of SB Nation wrote September 22. “According to a paper written by the National Library of Medicine, only 21.4 percent of athletes ‘returned to their prior performance level within two years.’ There was also a notable dropoff in the number of games that players ended up suiting up for before and after the injury/recovery process.”
Green Bay has also dealt with serious injury concerns to offensive guard Aaron Banks and multiple players at the center position this season.
Packers’ $88 Million Star May Be Finished in Green Bay After Injury