Would the Green Bay Packers trade OT Yosh Nijman?

Could offensive tackle and unrestricted free agent Yosh Nijman be a trade candidate for the Green Bay Packers?

Nijman is a restricted free agent this offseason, and the common thought is that the Packers will place a second-round tender on him. This tender comes with an already predetermined salary of $4.3 million in 2023, but Nijman can still speak with other teams even if the tender is placed. If an opposing team chooses to match the Packers’ offer, Green Bay has the option to keep Nijman and pay that salary, or they can trade him away and receive a second-round pick in return since that was the tender that was placed.

Nate Tice of The Athletic Football Show mentioned on a recent episode that there should be several teams out there willing to trade a second-round pick for Nijman. During his time in Green Bay, Nijman has developed into a capable starter at both right and left tackle positions, something that isn’t easily found in the NFL.

In this scenario, would the Packers make the trade? Let’s take a closer look at why Green Bay would choose to trade Nijman if presented with this opportunity, along with why they would hang on to him.

Why the Packers would trade Yosh Nijman

There is the possibility that Nijman might not even be a starter in 2023, as he could end up in a training camp battle with Zach Tom for the starting right tackle position. So the opportunity to get a second-round pick in return for a backup could give the Packers four picks within the first two rounds if they do end up trading away Aaron Rodgers. For a team with more playmaking needed, along with several positions of need to address, and some affordable contracts on the books, this could be enticing.

Nijman is also set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 and could end up playing elsewhere, in which the best-case scenario for Green Bay is that they receive a comp pick in return. The other alternative, if Nijman isn’t viewed as an in-season extension candidate, is that Green Bay could have to pay him a hefty free agent contract to bring him back when, again, the Packers aren’t going to have an abundance of cap space.

So three potential alternatives are either receive a second-round pick for him, have one more season of Nijman and then lose him for nothing, or get into a potential bidding war in free agency.

It’s also worth noting that with the Packers possibly having up to four picks within the first two rounds, this is a draft class at the tackle position with some high-end talent.

Why the Packers wouldn’t trade Yosh Nijman

The last three games of the 2022 season didn’t go well for Nijman, and he was even benched during Green Bay’s Week 18 matchup with Detroit. He was, however, dealing with a shoulder injury and provided stability at both tackle positions for much of the season. Tice would go on to nominate Nijman as one of the NFL’s most improved players from last season.

Although flying under the radar, there is also some uncertainty at the tackle position in 2023, and that only grows in 2024, further increasing Nijman’s value on this team. This past season was very up-and-down for Josh Myers, which could lead to the Packers giving Tom some snaps at center during training camp to compete with him. Although Tom mostly played tackle in 2022, Brian Gutekunst recently said at the combine that they thought center was where he was at his best coming out of Wake Forest. Next offseason, Green Bay could very well move on from David Bakhtiari in favor of over $21 million in salary cap savings–leaving a hole at left tackle and potentially right, depending on who the replacement is.

Sure, the Packers could look to solve either of these potential problems in the draft, but while Green Bay could find a higher upside option in comparison to Nijman, that is also far from a guarantee. The same could be said for current Packers’ Caleb Jones and Rasheed Walker–both have plenty of upside, but both are wildcards as well. At best, Nijman is a capable starter. At worst, he’s a very good backup – which is still valuable at the tackle position – and someone that Green Bay has had to lean on heavily the last two seasons.

Even for the Packers, who lack salary cap space, $4 million to Nijman in 2023 can be absorbed, and perhaps he could be an extension candidate during the season, which would stop him from hitting free agency and potentially allow Green Bay to keep him on a more affordable contract.

The Verdict: Packers keep Nijman

Ultimately, this decision comes down to how the Packers view Nijman. If they think he can be a long-term starter, I’ll guess that trading him isn’t much of an option. On the flip side, if there are still questions around that, along with Nijman’s future with the team beyond 2023, then trading him for an early-round selection is the prudent move.

With Nijman having shown that he can be among the Packers’ best five offensive linemen at both tackle positions, along with the emphasis that Gutey has put on both versatility and depth in the trenches, I expect Nijman to return in 2023. With it looking more and more likely that Jordan Love is going to be the starter, his success starts with the play up front, and losing Nijman, even as a backup, makes this unit worse.