The Packers underwent a major and necessary defensive overhaul this offseason, signing free-agent defensive linemen Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, along with safety Adrian Amos. And with the 12th overall pick in the 2019 draft, they selected Michigan pass-rusher Rashan Gary—an athletic freak who needs development. All this was done to improve a defense that ranked 29th in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics, and should go a long way to giving defensive coordinator Mike Pettine the required tools for an uptick in effectiveness.
But all those moves apparently left defensive lineman Mike Daniels as the odd man out. Selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft out of Iowa, the 30-year-old Daniels has been one of the more unconventionally disruptive linemen of his era. At 6’0” and 30 pounds, Daniels has the look of a short three-tech tackle, but he can make things happen in every gap of a defense—from head-over nose tackle to end. And through his Packers career, he’s done so to great effect, with 36 sacks, 45 quarterback hits, and 190 quarterback hurries, per Pro Football Focus.
Though he lost the last six games of the 2018 season to a foot injury, Daniels was still a star when on the field. In just 233 passing snaps, he amassed two sacks, three quarterback hits, and 27 quarterback hurries—once again doing so from all over the defensive line. He also posted 18 total stops, pointing to his ability as a run defender.
This wasn’t enough for the Packers, who were already planning to scale back Daniels’ snaps and were looking at his $10,712,500 cap number for the 2019 season. By releasing Daniels, which the team did on Wednesday, the team saved $8,312,500 in salary cap dollars, per OverTheCap.com, and only $2.4 million of Daniels’ number goes on the books as dead cap space.
Ostensibly, releasing a defensive lineman who just turned 30 and is coming off a lower-body injury would make financial sense. But where does this hurt Green Bay’s defensive line, and where does Daniels go from here?
Certainly, Za’Darius Smith pencils in well as Daniels’ primary replacement. The former Raven can play inside and outside, and he had 10 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, and 34 quarterback hurries in 2018. Smith fits a different physical profile at 6’4” and 272 pounds, but it could be said that the moment he was signed was the moment Daniels was out the door.
Which, in my opinion, is a mistake. As long as Daniels can come back fully healthy from last year’s foot injury, he still brings a fascinating skill set to the table. He’s still a player able to do everything asked of him at a top level, and while the financial constraints in the final year of Daniels’ four-year, $41 million contract make his release understandable from a front office point of view, the Packers will very much miss what Daniels brought to the field.
And now, some other team will benefit—certainly in the short term. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that Daniels would prefer to sign with a Super Bowl contender. Well, wouldn’t we all? But any playoff team in need of a consistent pass rush and run-stopping ability, especially in an interior defensive line rotation, would do well to pull out the wallet and start counting the money.
Because Mike Daniels is still a force.
This Week 9 sack of Tom Brady shows Daniels’ footwork, which is still top-notch. The Packers are “sugaring the A-gaps” here on a blitz look, which leaves right guard Ted Karras responsible for Daniels one-on-one. Not a great matchup for the Patriots. At the snap, Daniels gives Karras the kind of shudder-step you’d expect from a slot receiver and heads to Karras’ inside shoulder with little resistance. Center David Andrews is monitoring the blitz looks, so he can’t help in time.
And if you want mobility in the open field from your defensive lineman, look no further. This Week 1 sack of Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is more about Daniels’ athleticism than any particular technique. Dropping off at the snap to spy Trubisky, Daniels simply tracks the quarterback down to Trubisky’s left after Trubisky runs out of options as a thrower. Effort and quickness combine for a great play.
This 22-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Adam Thielen in Week 2 was perhaps the most improbable and spectacular of Cousins’ career, considering how he usually operates under pressure. The pressure in question comes from Daniels, who absolutely works Minnesota center Brett Jones from a head-up alignment. Jones has no counter for Daniels’ leg drive and leverage, which is a common complaint among Daniels’ opponents–when he gets rolling from a low stance, he’s very difficult to deal with.
These two run stops against the Lions in Week 5 show that Daniels has more than one way to get to the running back and snuff things out. In the first play, he’s running a stunt with end Dean Lowry (No. 94), with back Kerryon Johnson heading to the right. Johnson doubles back to the center, and though Daniels looks to be out of the play at first, he makes a great effort to get back to the ball, stopping Johnson for no gain.
And this is just pure power. Pre-snap, Daniels is aligned between left guard Frank Ragnow and left tackle Taylor Decker. Double-teamed at the snap by Ragnow and center Graham Glasgow as Ragnow moves to the right, Daniels bulls though it with leverage and takes Johnson down for another no-gainer at the line of scrimmage.
Teams looking to add Daniels to their roster will have to take a good look at his current injury situation, and the money will have to be right, especially if he’s designated as a rotational player as opposed to an every-snap guy. But based on the tape he put up before his 2018 injury, any team looking to make a long push into the playoffs would find their defense enhanced by his presence to an extreme degree.
