It’s time to talk about Rasheed Walker, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and contract extensions
Last week, two contract extensions by other NFL teams should have been flagged for the Green Bay Packers front office. They provide paths for extensions at two important positions up for new contracts this offseason in Green Bay: left tackle and wide receiver. The players that signed these new deals were the Los Angeles Rams’ Alaric Jackson and the Buffalo Bills’ Khalil Shakir.
Jackson was set to be the best young offensive tackle on the market, despite only starting 2.5 years and never being considered a Pro Bowl-caliber talent. Jackson’s reward for being an average-ish left tackle? A three-year, $57 million contract with $35 million guaranteed that will pay him out an average salary of $19 million.
Why is this important for the Packers? They’re going to be in a similar contract situation with Rasheed Walker, their own left tackle, who is in a contract year in 2025. The former seventh-round pick was forced into the starting lineup in the 2023 season due to David Bakhtiari’s lingering knee injury. Since Week 2 of the 2023 season, Walker has started 22 of the Packers’ 23 regular season games. So if Green Bay is planning on keeping Walker around, they need to have the stomach to extend him to a $19 million per year deal. If they don’t want to do that, now is the time to pivot at the position, giving them a year to groom his replacement over the next season.
At wide receiver, Shakir’s four-year, $60.2 million contract holds weight on the futures of Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. All three players were drafted in the 2022 class. Shakir has recorded 125 receptions for 1,593 yards and seven touchdowns while Watson has posted 98 receptions for 1,653 yards and 14 touchdowns and Doubs has racked up 147 receptions for 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. Both Watson and Doubs have injury questions, Watson due to a history of knee and hamstring issues and Doubs because of a history of concussions, but Shakir’s extension should be around the ballpark of what those receivers would receive if they enter free agency healthy in 2026.
Like the Walker situation, if the Packers aren’t willing to match Shakir’s contract, then now is the time for the team to start developing Watson and Doubs’ eventual replacement. The market has spoken for receivers with very similar production, so Green Bay needs to adjust and plan for what it has laid out for them.
Would you give these players those type of extensions this offseason? Vote in our poll below and drop us a line in the comment section with your thoughts.
