Packers Lose Yosh Nijman to Panthers in Free Agency, Leaving Hole at Tackle.
One of the Packers’ biggest disappointments in 2024 was Yosh Nijman. However, the Carolina Panthers found him to be an alluring addition given his overall record.
On Monday, offensive tackle Yosh Nijman agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers, dealing a slight blow to the Green Bay Packers’ roster, as reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
In light of this, the Packers lack an experienced offensive tackle to complement right tackle Zach Tom and left tackle Rasheed Walker. After all, the Packers were going to select an offensive tackle in the draft.
They will most likely need to select a tackle early in the draft unless they are fortunate enough to sign one of the few veterans still available (Cameron Fleming of Denver would make sense).
In 2023, the combined playing counts of Luke Tenuta, Caleb Jones, and Kadeem Telfort will be exactly zero. Tenuta, a Buffalo 2022 sixth-round selection, was sidelined for the entire season.
Gameday inactives list member Jones, a 2022 undrafted free agent, played the entire season.
Telfort, who was a free agent in 2023 without being selected, was a member of the practice squad during the year.
In 2023, the Packers were extremely lucky. Following Walker’s substitution for David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins’ recovery from a knee injury, the starting lineup played all 15 games (including the postseason) together.
It does not occur annually. Not many years go by like that.
The Packers require depth badly. Nijman offered that depth, even though his season was disappointing. In 2021 and 2022, he made 21 starts at the tackle spots.
Supporting quarterback Aaron Rodgers throughout Bakhtiari’s ordeal. He was seldom outmatched or outclassed when he was healthy.
In 2023, Walker’s 515 pass-protecting snaps resulted in 33 total pressures and six sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. In other words, there are 15.6 snaps per pressure and 85.8 snaps per sack.
During his three seasons, Nijman gave up 10 sacks and 58 total pressures while covering passes on 943 snaps. That works out to 16.3 snaps per pressure and 94.3 snaps per sack.
The Packers might have thought they had reached the limit with Nijman and that it was time to move on. The NFL jungle’s new motto is “out with the old, in with the new.”
The contest between Nijman and Tom for starting right tackle in training camp lasted roughly two and a half minutes. It was Nijman after that.
who was coming off 13 starts in the previous season, against Walker, the swing tackle who saw no offensive snaps in his rookie year.
Given that Nijman was playing with the $4.3 million restricted free agent tender, there ought to have been a mismatch. Walker was given the job in its place.
At the end of training camp, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich stated, “Right now, he is a backup tackle for us.” “He is at that point.
All I have to say about that is that football is a very competitive sport, and some guys are made for that kind of competition, and some guys aren’t.”
Coach Matt LaFleur was not pleased with the statement because it was as direct as any coach has been about a player since the team began live streaming press conferences rather than having them in a hallway where reporters could speak with coaches one-on-one.
Still, what was spoken was said.
In 2023, Nijman participated in 230 snaps during the regular season, primarily in a rotation with Walker. He got the start in the Week 8 matchup with the Rams. Walker had 37 snaps, while Nijman had 35.
Walker completed the full 68 games at Pittsburgh a week later. He saw less and less playing time in the final minutes, including none at all in the victory over Carolina.
In 26 snaps, Nijman struggled, while Tom suffered a concussion in the playoff loss to San Francisco.
With no additions, the Packers are without two important players after losing veteran guard Jon Runyan on the first day of free agency.
Walker would start at left tackle, Jenkins at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard, and Tom at right tackle if the Packers had to play a game today.
The profundity? The only player with more than seven regular-season snaps is Royce Newman.
Now what, then? The Titans cut Andre Dillard, a first-round pick in 2019, in addition to Fleming, who has extensive experience at both left and right tackle.
Despite his terrible performance in 16 games (10 starts) the previous year, he is an experienced 28-year-old. Billy Turner, a 32-year-old former Packers tackle, is another option, but he was limited to starting just two games for the blocking-poor Jets last season.
