The Green Bay Packers placed the second-round restricted free agent tender on offensive tackle Yosh Nijman, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
The second-round tender is valued at a one-year salary of $4,304,000 for the 2023 season. The deadline to place the tender was Wednesday afternoon, or the start of the new league year.
Restricted free agents are players with expiring contracts who have three years of accrued NFL experience.
Nijman can still negotiate with other teams, but if he signs an offer sheet with another team and the Packers do not match, the offering team would have to send the Packers a second-round pick in the 2023 draft.
The tender suggests Nijman is a strong candidate to start at right tackle – opposite David Bakhtiari at left tackle – for the Packers next season.
Nijman, 27, has played in all 34 games and made 21 starts (playing both left and right tackle) over the last two seasons.
Last season, Nijman allowed 28 total pressures (five sacks) and committed 10 penalties over 758 total snaps. He played 200 snaps at left tackle and 555 at right tackle. A switch over to the right side and a late-season shoulder injury created some inconsistency late in the season, and the Packers actually benched Nijman for rookie Zach Tom in the season finale.
The Packers originally signed Nijman as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech in 2019. He played all of 14 snaps during his first two seasons but has emerged as a player the Packers can count on at offensive tackle, a premium position.
The team’s other restricted free agents are tight end Tyler Davis and linebacker Krys Barnes, neither of which is expected to get a tender. Without one, both players would become unrestricted free agents at the start of the new league year on Wednesday afternoon.
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