Getty Mike Daniels hits Dak Prescott in 2019.
The Detroit Lions bottomed out in the 2019 season, and many have been hypothesizing in the wake of the problems that the team’s locker room could have been the issue.
That might not be the case whatsoever according to defensive tackle Mike Daniels. According to Daniels, who joined SiriusXM NFL Radio, the team has a solid locker room and a solid defense, one he was impressed in joining last season when he signed with the team.
Defensive Lineman @Mike_Daniels76 discusses last season in Detroit, how he is handling free agency, and why he would embrace a return to the Packers…
“I’d definitely love to go back to Green Bay.”
👇AUDIO👇 | #NFLFreeAgency
Daniels said:
“That defense, seeing how those guys worked, how they practiced, they just worked so hard. It’s just unfortunate that things didn’t go the way we wanted them,” Daniels said in the interview. “But that locker room was definitely amazing. It was one of the better ones I was a part of.”
Many have suggested the Lions bring back Daniels. He referenced perhaps wanting to return to the Green Bay Packers if they were interested. Clearly, though, Daniels had no issues with the Lions and how they approached their business last season.
Lions Told They Must Let Mike Daniels Walk Within Free Agency
This offseason, the Lions were instructed to move on from one of the veteran players they signed in order to try and fill the gap. Defensive tackle Mike Daniels was a late addition to the team near the end of training camp, but things didn’t pan out after that point, leading some to think they shouldn’t look for a reunion in the future.
That leads Bleacher Report writer Brad Gagnon to proclaim Daniels as the one free agent the Lions have to move on from this offseason. Here’s a look at what he wrote on why that’s the case:
“The Mike Daniels experiment didn’t work out for the Detroit Lions.
Detroit signed the veteran defensive lineman soon after he was surprisingly released by the division rival Green Bay Packers in July, but Green Bay might have been on to something regarding Daniels’ decline. The 30-year-old’s tackle and sack totals plummeted in his final season there, and injuries were again a big factor in what was essentially a lost debut campaign with Detroit.
Daniels started just two games and contributed just one sack and 10 tackles to the Lions, who acquired interior defensive lineman Damon Harrison from the New York Giants ahead of the trade deadline. Harrison is actually five months older than Daniels, but he’s coming off a strong, complete campaign and he’s under contract for two more years.
The Lions should bring back A’Shawn Robinson to partner up with Harrison, since Robinson still has plenty of upside as a 24-year-old 2016 second-round pick. And in that case, it doesn’t make much sense to pay Daniels to return.”
Safe to say the Lions found out that Daniels didn’t have much left in the tank for 2020 near the tail end of 2019. The injuries proved too significant for him to overcome in the end, and that’s something which might be likely to prevent him from coming back.
Mike Daniels Injuries
Daniels missed the end of the 2018 season in Green Bay with a foot injury which landed him on IR. He was attempting to work back from that this offseason when the Packers pulled the plug on Daniels and released him during training camp. The Lions snatched him up, and after an up and down start to his career in Detroit, he was hobbled by a foot injury to his other foot early in the season after a game with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Daniels had to try to work himself back to health on the field. For the most part, it didn’t go well with the tackle only registering 1 sack late against the Chicago Bears as his highlight of the season.
Outside of that, Daniels was a virtual non-factor this season for the Lions when many expected he might be a difference maker for the team’s line. While it was unfortunate to see injury intervene for him again, that was the biggest concern he came to Detroit with when he signed with the team.
Mike Daniels Statistics
Daniels has been one of the most productive interior linemen in the NFL during his career, piling up 228 tackles and 30 sacks coming into this season. He’s also been a Pro Bowl level talent in the league, which has been huge and allowed him to be one of the bigger name players along any defensive line. With the Lions, Daniels did not make as huge an immediate impact with just 10 tackles and 1 sack in his tenure.
Clearly, Daniels does not have any animosity from his time with the team. It will be interesting to see if the Lions decide to bring him back or not this offseason.
READ NEXT: Analyst Reveals Next Lions Player Potentially Getting Released