David Bakhtiari responds to false report about Packers releasing him

David Bakhtiari's future with the Green Bay Packers remains uncertain.

The Packers could release Bakhtiari this offseason to create almost $21 million in cap space. However, they have yet to make a move to lower his upcoming cap hit of $40 million.

Last week, The Athletic's Matt Schneidman wrote about why he believes the Packers will release Bakhtiari. However, at no point did he report that it was happening.

Many NFL news aggregators took Schneidman's article out of context, posting that the Packers were "expected" to release Bakhtiari "soon." While this may happen, The Athletic never reported that.

Schneidman was quick to point it out.

"There's a difference between an opinion based on reading between the lines and a report based on sourcing," wrote Schneidman in response to a social media post based on his "report." "This isn't quite what I wrote. Semantics, but wanted to clear that up since someone sent me this."

But that didn't stop Bakhtiari from having a good sense of humor about it.

David Bakhtiari has perfect response to incorrect report about Packers releasing him

Bakhtiari saw the "reports" on social media, and he had the perfect response. The five-time All-Pro jokingly took a shot at Schneidman.

"If I get fired because of this, I blame you," wrote Bakhtiari in response to Schneidman.

It was a classic David Bakhtiari response. He understands his cap situation in Green Bay and the uncertainty of his future, but he had a good sense of humor about it.

Although The Athletic never reported that the Packers were "expected" to release Bakhtiari soon—it was Schneidman's opinion, not a report—it likely will happen at some point. Here's what Schneidman actually wrote:

"The Packers will assuredly trade or release Bakhtiari — maybe the New York Jets fork over a late-round pick to reunite Bakhtiari with his old golf cart buddy Aaron Rodgers, and that's not a joke — despite the possibility that he's still elite when healthy, as he showed for a brief Sunday against the Chicago Bears in September."

- The Athletic's Matt Schneidman

And we can't disagree with that. The Packers have a young roster, and Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom proved why they are the team's future at tackle.

As great as it would be to have a healthy Bakhtiari back in Green Bay for the rest of his career, there's no getting around the $40 million cap hit. The Packers need to create cap space, and that's the most significant move they can make.

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