Potential New York Jets target David Bakhtiari is the subject of false rumors on social media
We’ve entered the dry spell on the football calendar that lasts between Super Bowl Sunday and the opening of legal tampering on March 11, which means the news cycle is about to be filled with rumors on a daily basis.
With multiple weeks of rumors still to come, now is a good time for a quick lesson in rumor literacy on social media.
Remember: Don’t immediately take a Twitter report as fact without verifying it yourself. Some rumors are based on actual information from a reputable source. Some are contrived by people looking for attention on the internet.
In this case, we need to shut down a rumor about current Green Bay Packers tackle David Bakhtiari, a close friend of Aaron Rodgers who could potentially be targeted by the New York Jets this offseason if he is traded or released. Bakhtiari’s name has circulated in the news today, but nothing actually happened to warrant the “reports” that have surrounded him.
Multiple news aggregation accounts on Twitter pushed headlines that claimed the Packers are expected to release Bakhtiari, citing a report from The Athletic.
The #Packers are expected to release All-Pro tackle David Bakhtiari soon, per @TheAthletic
Should the #Jets pick him up? pic.twitter.com/iHKtPEzCJB
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 18, 2024
https://twitter.com/SleeperNFL/status/1759240416740999395
While this very well could end up happening at some point this offseason due to Bakhtiari’s contract and injuries, there has been no new information reported about this situation recently. Nothing occurred to justify claiming that The Athletic was reporting Bakhtiari “is expected to be cut.”
The so-called “report” from The Athletic was actually just an article from Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman where he was merely speculating and stating his opinion based on reading between the lines. It’s erroneous to take this line and pass it off as news – and unfair to Schneidman.
🚨 Just so we're all clear, here is the source for this "the Packers are expected to release David Bakhtiari, per the Athletic" story.
It's Matt Schneidman speculating about what makes the most sense to him.
Whoever took this line and ran with it is a delusional clickbaiter. pic.twitter.com/Pi0ybsXUPq
— J.J. Lahey 🧀 Packers Talk (@JJLahey) February 18, 2024
There’s a difference between an opinion based on reading between the lines and a report based on sourcing.
Can someone tell Dov that since he blocks me lol
This isn’t quite what I wrote. Semantics, but wanted to clear that up since someone sent me this. Enjoy your Sunday. pic.twitter.com/NIpWDsG7Ov
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 18, 2024
There’s nothing worse for NFL news than those aggregator accounts. https://t.co/GLXBGbvKhk
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 18, 2024
As we navigate through the next few weeks, be sure to always double-check the source of any rumor you see circulating around the NFL world. Honestly, this is a tip that applies year-round (even outside of the NFL), but I figured this particular situation was a perfect way to bring attention to it.
It’s extremely common in today’s sports media landscape for these aggregation accounts to spread misinformation because they know it will rack up retweets and impressions. They either make things up, don’t fact-check, or twist someone’s words to incite reactions. Don’t trust them. Look into the situation yourself before taking an aggregator’s post as fact.
It remains probable that Bakhtiari will be traded or released at some point (more likely the latter). Still, he remains under contract with Green Bay, and we are yet to hear of any verified reports claiming the Packers have decided on what they plan to do with him. So, we’ll have to continue waiting to see how this plays out. The aggregators framed it as if the Packers have already made a decision.
The latest real update about the Bakhtiari saga occurred more than two weeks ago.
On February 1, Packers general manager Brian Gutenkunst said this about Bakhtiari: “We’re still at the very beginning stages of looking at, you know, how we’re going to move forward with all that. Obviously, David’s been through a really rough stretch with the injuries stuff. He’s going through a really major surgery, trying to get back to be able to play. We’re monitoring that. I know he’s working his tail off. Once we get down the road and see where he’s at, health-wise, we’ll kinda make those decisions.”
Once we get a concrete report that states the Packers are preparing to move on from Bakhtiari, the Jets will immediately become the most commonly discussed potential destination. We shall see if New York is truly interested. It’s easy to connect the dots due to Bakhtiari’s connection with Aaron Rodgers and Nathaniel Hackett, but his chronic knee issues (five surgeries in the past three years) are a bright red flag for a Jets team that has battled too many injuries along the offensive line in recent years.
