4 Packers who won’t be back after huge Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs deals
- The Packers signed Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney for a combined $29M in AAV
- David Bakhtiari and Aaron Jones have already been let go
- Which other Packers won't return to Green Bay after these deals?
2. Yosh Nijman, OT
Even though he came into the league as a UDFA back in 2019, Yosh Nijman is a familiar face among Packers fans. That's in part due to the longtime belief -- particularly peaking in training camp early in his career -- that Nijman could potentially develop into a starting offensive tackle for the future. And make no mistake, Nijman got plenty of chances thanks to injuries and otherwise.
Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Nijman registered more than 1,300 snaps for the Packers offensive line. There were times when he played relatively well over that span, particularly showing some decent prowess as a pass-blocker. But he still lacked consistency snap-to-snap and game-to-game while also struggling overall to help open up the run game.
Perhaps the best indication about the Packers' long-term feelings with Nijman, though, came last year. Despite more injuries, to David Bakhtiari in particular, Green Bay only utilized Nijman for 230 snaps. This came after he lost a camp battle (quickly) to Zach Tom to be the starting right tackle and then ostensibly lost the swing tackle role to Rasheed Walker.
With Bakhtiari out, the Packers do need to address the depth at offensive tackle. But with what they've seen from Nijman at this point, preferring an outside option in free agency or via the draft would make a lot more sense. There comes a time when a project is simply not worth investing in any further, and Nijman might be a victim of that.