Brian Gutekunst has not been shy about it. The Green Bay Packers want Tucker Kraft locked up long-term, and they want it done before he plays a snap in 2026. Extension talks are underway. Jayden Reed already got his. Kraft is now the next priority piece of the offseason.
After running Kraft's production through every reasonable framework, the answer keeps landing in the same spot. Four years, around $72 million, with $26.5 million guaranteed at signing. An $18 million average per year would make him the third-highest paid tight end in the NFL, trailing only George Kittle ($19.1 million APY) and Trey McBride ($19 million).
Here is how he gets there, and why the price is justified even though the surface stats do not scream market-setter.
The volume case is not the case
Kraft is not McBride. Over his last 17 games played, playoff included, Kraft averaged 3.5 catches and 49.8 yards per game. McBride's 2024 platform year averaged 6.9 catches and 71.6 yards per game. That is a different planet.
Arizona ran their offense through their tight end. Green Bay does not. With a plethora of receivers rotating through the route tree, Kraft hit 50 catches and 707 yards in 2024 by being efficient, not by being fed. Measuring receiving volume is also the boring way to measure a tight end.
Kraft will argue efficiency and YAC - and he's got a heck of a case
Look at what happens when Kraft does touch the ball:
Stat | Kraft (Final 17 games) | McBride (2024 season) |
|---|---|---|
Yards per catch | 14.3 | 10.3 |
YAC per catch | 9.6 | 4.7 |
Missed tackles forced rate | 23% | 13% |
TD's per game | 0.47 | 0.13 |
This is the part that makes Kraft difficult to price. The market has not had to evaluate a tight end who creates yards after the catch like a starting running back and breaks tackles at that rate while also blocking 400-plus snaps a season. Pro Football Focus charted Kraft as the No. 1 tight end in yards after the catch per reception in 2024. The next-best tight end was 2.7 yards behind him. There is no recent contract that has priced this profile.
His after-catch profile is a unicorn trait that his representatives should be able to sell as a differentiator that is worth a premium over his baseline counting stats.
The Green Bay structure
The Packers do not guarantee contracts the way most teams do. Outside of quarterbacks and Micah Parsons, they only guarantee a large signing bonus up front. By year two of a veteran deal, they can cut bait if they so choose, albeit for a large salary cap penalty, but no additional cash. Jayden Reed's extension this offseason once again followed this tried-and-true model, with a $20 million signing bonus and nothing else guaranteed thereafter.
A Kraft extension would work the same way. Project a $25 million signing bonus upfront with a league minimum salary attached and he's getting just over $26 million in 2026. From there, his yearly salaries look like that of a mid-tier tight end more than that of a premier player at the position. $8.6 million in 2027, $13 million in 2028 with half-million step ups from there in 2029 and 2030, respectively. It's a playbook Green Bay has used time and again.
The smart move is to get this done now, before Kraft plays a 2026 snap. If he comes back from the ACL on schedule and produces another 1,000-yard pace season he might be the first tight end to cross $20 million per year on his next deal. Right now the Packers have a strong case to put him towards the top of the tight end market without putting him at the top.
$18 million per year is what that team-friendly number looks like. It is below McBride and Kittle. It pays for the rarity without overpaying for the volume Kraft does not have. And Green Bay's structure means the Packers can absorb that headline APY without committing to the rolling guarantee structure other teams have adopted that effectively ties them to players long after the first year of a deal.
Bottom line
Four years. $72 million. $18 million APY. $26.5 million guaranteed at signing. $30 million in year one cash.
It would make Tucker Kraft the third-highest-paid tight end in football. It would be a slight overpay on volume and a slight underpay on rarity. It would be a Packers contract. Front-loaded, structurally team-friendly, and exactly the kind of deal Green Bay has run on every notable offensive player it has retained under this regime.
And it would be a steal in 12 months.
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