Packers Give Restricted Free Agent Tender to Nijman
GREEN BAY, Wis. – According to a source, the Green Bay Packers gave offensive tackle Yosh Nijman the second-round restricted free agent tender ahead of Wednesday’s deadline.
The tender is worth a guaranteed $4.304 million.
Free agents with three years of NFL experience are restricted free agents. To prevent those players from becoming unrestricted free agents, they must be tendered. There are three levels.
The lowest is $2.627 million.
The second-round tender is the aforementioned $4.304 million.
The first-round tender is $6.005 million.
In each case, another team can sign the player to a contract but the Packers would have the ability to match that contract to keep the player. If they choose to let that player go to the other team, the first-round tender means they’d get a first-round draft pick, the second-round tender means they’d get a second-round draft pick and the minimum tender means they’d get nothing back.
In the case of Nijman, it’s a bit of a game of chicken. Given how well Nijman played in 756 snaps, it’s possible another team would sign Nijman to an offer sheet. But going this route saves the Packers about $1.7 million.
An undrafted free agent in 2019, Nijman has gone from talented project to solid starter.
Would the Packers survive without left tackle David Bakhtiari at the start of the season? Yes, because Nijman was excellent. When the team was confident that Bakhtiari had moved beyond the knee injury, it moved Nijman to right tackle. He struggled a bit there – not surprisingly, considering it was a new position that he hadn’t repped during training camp.
Of 63 offensive tackles with 300-plus pass-protecting snaps, Nijman finished 30th in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency, a metric that measures sacks, hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. He allowed five sacks and 28 total pressures, with zero sacks and five pressures in six games at left tackle and five sacks and 23 pressures in 11 starts at right tackle.
A late-season shoulder injury meant his season ended on a bitter note with two sacks allowed and a seat on the bench in Week 18 vs. Detroit.
More than just a pass protector, his athleticism had him leading the charge on a lot of explosive runs.
With Bakhtiari back at left tackle, Nijman will be able to focus on right tackle all offseason and training camp.
Nijman went undrafted in 2019 and the Packers stuck with him for two seasons. Their patience was rewarded. In Week 3 of the 2021 season, Nijman got his big chance with his first NFL start against San Francisco’s Nick Bosa. After a rough start, he settled in and played a key role in a big victory.
“For someone to play their first NFL game against a Pro Bowler, you’re like, ‘Holy smokes,’” Nijman said. “I wasn’t even really thinking about that aspect, it was that I had to stay in front of him. I did it and I was like, ‘OK, I can do it.’ So, I kept doing it.”
Nijman kept working and improving. He went from “genetic specimen,” as left guard Jon Runyan called him, to reliable starter.
“Yeah, confidence. The cliched things,” Nijman said of where he’s grown. “You’re prepared, you’re ready, you have experience. That’s what it is. Now, I’m so much more excited than I ever was given the fact that I have so much experience playing. It’s fun to be playing every week at the highest level. It’s really cool.”
The Packers did not tender tight end Tyler Davis but he will be back. Linebacker Krys Barnes is the other restricted free agent.
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