The Detroit Lions have signed former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Mike Daniels, who was released by the Green Bay Packers earlier this week, to a one-year deal for $9.1 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday.
The deal includes $7.8 million that is fully guaranteed, the source told Schefter.
Daniels, 30, was a fourth-round pick out of Iowa in 2012. He had been a perennial starter for the Packers prior to his release, starting 72 of 102 games in his career and all but one of the games he played in since the start of the 2014 season.
He received interest from close to a dozen teams, including the Cleveland Browns.
Daniels, a Pro Bowler in 2017, has 29 career sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He should bolster an already strong defensive line rotation for Detroit that features Damon Harrison, who is considered one of the NFL’s top run-stoppers, along with Da’Shawn Hand, A’Shawn Robinson and rookie PJ Johnson.
The day after his release, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Daniels would be missed.
“Mike has been such a great contributor for us for so long. Not just a great player on the field but a great person in the locker room and so fun to be around,” Rodgers said Thursday. “And lastly, the part that kind of makes you the total package as a Packer is what he did in the community, and I think he deserves a lot of credit for the way that him and his wife put on events and made a great effort through the community outreach program and on their own as well. Mike will definitely be missed and wished him well and hope we don’t have to play against him.”
With Daniels joining a division rival, it’s all but guaranteed Rodgers will have to face his former teammate.
It’s unclear how second-year Lions coach Matt Patricia will use Daniels, but if he lined up on one of the edges, he could join a group that includes top-dollar free-agent signee Trey Flowers and Romeo Okwara.
Harrison has yet to practice with Detroit during training camp after missing all of the spring and is on the non-football injury list. Flowers has yet to practice and is on the physically unable to perform list. Robinson has missed the first two days of camp to deal with what Patricia called a “personal issue,” although the coach said he expects him to return soon.