National Football League

Will Ty Nsekhe End Up Back With The Washington Redskins?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:34 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jacob Camenker/FanSided via Riggo's Rag

The life of a restricted free agent in the NFL is a pretty tough one. This offseason, Ty Nsekhe and the Washington Redskins could have some decisions to make in regards to the free agent market.

In the NFL, restricted free agents play a key role in the offseason. Often time, they go under the radar as they typically end up re-signing with their own teams. However, a select few of them sign offer sheets with other franchises and can end up parting ways in the offseason. For 2017, the Washington Redskins are going to have a decision to make on the future of their backup swing tackle, Ty Nsekhe.

Nsekhe was an extremely valuable player for the team during the 2016 season. When Trent Williams missed four games with a suspension, Nsekhe was able to step into the lineup and perform at a very high level. There was little drop off from Williams to him, which is saying a lot given that Williams is arguably the best left tackle in the NFL. Because of this, Nsekhe is expected to garner some interest on the free agent market, and it remains to be seen what the Redskins might do with him.

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In restricted free agency, teams are allowed to offer their free agents a qualifying offer. These offers are for a predetermined money about set by the CBA. As of the current season, the NFL has a few different tender options. They have a first round designation, a second round designation, and an original status designation. Essentially, this means that if a team wanted to sign another team’s restricted free agent to an offer sheet, they would have to give up a draft pick based on the tender amount given by the original team.

In Nsekhe’s case, the Redskins would probably be most likely to offer up a second round designation for him. Though they would not want to lose the tackle, they could potentially benefit from picking up an extra second round pick. They could use that to either bolster the defense or add an offensive weapon. A second round designation seems to make the most sense, considering that Nsekhe was undrafted so the original status designation would make little sense.

For those wondering about the potential of using a first round designation, that would seem to be unlikely. Unless the Redskins absolutely want to keep Nsekhe, it makes little sense to use a first round designation. The fact is that even though Nsekhe is talented, he is 31 years old. He may not be around for a long period of time, so no team would really want to sacrifice a first round pick to get him. Unless the Redskins definitively want to keep Nsekhe, the second round tender is the best option.

At the end of the day, it may make the most sense to keep Nsekhe for one more year. At the same time, the Redskins need to keep their options open. If they can get some solid compensation for the veteran, then it may be worth it to let him sign an offer sheet with another team this offseason.