GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Make that two hometown discounts for the Green Bay Packers already this offseason.
Three days after getting wide receiver Randall Cobb back on a below-market value deal, right tackle Bryan Bulaga has agreed to terms to stay with the Packers, according to FOX Sports/FS1 Insider Mike Garafolo.
Bulaga will sign a five-year deal worth slightly less than $7 million per season, according to multiple reports. The most likely situation is that it will be for a total of $34 million with about $11 million guaranteed.
Considering that career backup right tackle Jeremy Parnell is signing a five-year, $32 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bulaga obviously was worth more than what he'll be getting from Green Bay. Parnell has just seven regular-season starts to his name and is 28 years old, whereas Bulaga has started 48 games in the NFL and is 25 years old.
The Packers didn't want to pay Bulaga more than an average of $7 million per season, and rather than get more than that elsewhere, the former first-round pick is taking the offer.
"If it was up to me, everyone would love to stay where they were drafted," Bulaga said Jan. 19 as he cleaned out his locker following the playoff loss in Seattle. "Everyone wants to be where they first came in and started to contribute. But we just have to see what happens."
Head coach Mike McCarthy said on several occasions during the 2014 season that he felt it was the best offensive line Green Bay has had in his nine years with the team. With Bulaga on board, that group can now continue to grow together. Left tackle David Bakhthiari has two years left on his rookie deal, center Corey Linsley has three years remaining on his, and guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang both have two years to go on the extensions they signed.
"The guys that I've been with, my teammates, I love these guys," Bulaga said Jan. 19. "It's been fun. It's a top-class organization. The fans are fantastic. But it's the relationships you build in this locker room that's special."
Bulaga is coming off a productive season in which he was rated by ProFootballFocus as the NFL's second-best pass-blocking right tackle. Overall, Bulaga was rated fourth among right tackles. He was also healthy for almost the entire 2014 season, missing only the Week 2 game with a knee injury.
Ending a season with a clean bill of health has been a rarity for Bulaga, who was out all of 2013 with a torn ACL and had to sit out the final seven games of 2012 with a hip injury.
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