Commanders sign replacement for retired offensive lineman

One day after Washington head coach Dan Quinn made the surprise announcement that veteran guard Nate Herbig was retiring, the Commanders found a replacement. On Wednesday, Washington announced the signing of 26-year-old Lucas Niang.

Niang, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound offensive tackle, was a third-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 NFL draft. He played collegiately at TCU. In five NFL seasons, all with the Chiefs, Niang has appeared in 33 career games, making nine starts. Niang did not appear in a game for Kansas City last season, spending most of the year on the practice squad before being released in November.

Herbig was signed this offseason to play guard, and he was battling Chris Paul, Julian Good-Jones and Michael Deiter for a spot. The interesting part of Niang's signing is that he's also a tackle. The Commanders have several tackles in camp, including Laremy Tunsil, Josh Conerly Jr., Trent Scott and Andrew Wylie. Tunsil, Conerly and Wylie are locks to make the 53-man roster, and Scott stands an excellent chance, too. There are other tackles in camp, too.

Niang was teammates with Wylie and Nick Allegretti with the Chiefs and was a part of two Super Bowl championship teams.

It will be interesting to see how many offensive linemen Washington keeps when it trims the roster to 53 players next month.