The Green Bay Packers are not known for dipping their toes into the free agent pools very often. Instead, the Packers tend to develop and re-sign their own players long-term and rely on the draft as a source of young and inexpensive talent. After four Super Bowl victories, it's fair to say that strategy has worked out pretty well.
The Packers will likely continue that strategy with one of their young defensive building blocks.
"With most of the work in this year's free agency already done, it's not too early to start looking ahead to next year's free agents," ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky said. "Almost certainly, general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy will want to do a contract extension with one or two of the free agents in 2016. The priority is probably defensive tackle Mike Daniels. After three years in the NFL, Daniels has gotten better each season, last year becoming perhaps the Packers' most dominant player on the defensive line. With the Packers expecting Daniels' play to only increase, the Packers will want to lock him up sooner rather than later. Don't be surprised if sometime before free agency begins next season the Packers have already done a deal with defensive tackle Mike Daniels."
Daniels recorded 41 total tackles with 5.5 sacks last season. He was graded positively in 13 of the Packers' 18 games (including playoffs), according to Pro Football Focus. He was a catalyst for Green Bay's resurgence when trailing the New York Jets 21-3 and facing an 0-2 start to the season and showed up big time in the Packers' post-season game against the New England Patriots. Overall, Daniels helped pick up much of the slack once defensive line anchor B.J. Raji suffered an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2014 season.
Daniels is just 25 years old and could be a key cog in Green Bay's defense for seasons to come.
