NEWSLETTER
I was preparing to put together a line in today’s Bullets on the Packers signing defensive lineman Dean Lowry to a multi-year contract extension until this dropped:
#Packers are releasing DL Mike Daniels, source says. Wowza.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 24, 2019
Green Bay is reportedly parting ways with defensive lineman Mike Daniels, who has been a mainstay along the Packers’ defensive line since being drafted in 2012. The move allows Lowry to get more snaps and clears playing time for first-round draft pick Rashan Gary. Perhaps more important is that the team positions itself to save upward of $8 million in cap space.
Even still … the timing seems odd because training camps are opening up as I type.
Daniels, 30, has been a starter for the Packers since the 2014 season, is just one season removed from being a Pro Bowl player, and was graded as an elite interior defensive lineman by Pro Football Focus’ standards as recently 2015. A foot injury limited Daniels to just 10 games last season, but was still a solid contributor as a pass-rushing interior defender when he was on the field. As we saw with the Bears last season, having a rotation of defensive linemen can maximize what a unit could do in limiting quarterbacks and ball-carriers alike. Had the Packers retained Daniels, their front line could have been that much more formidable. Awww, shucks! You hate to see that!
At this point, you might be wondering if the Bears would be interested in adding Daniels to their own mix of defensive linemen. On the surface, a trio of Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, and Daniels would be more than a handful for offensive lines to contain. And if you throw in the likes of Bilal Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Jonathan Bullard, the depth in that unit would be off the charts. The Bears have $16,777,142 in available cap space, per OverTheCap.com. So in theory, Chicago could fit Daniels comfortably within their roster without making a major sacrifice. But because the Bears have young depth at the position, I’m not sure Daniels would choose Chicago over a team that has a need for a starter at the position and ample cap space to pay him.
