Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Mike Daniels has chosen to sign with the Detroit Lions according to multiple reports by ESPN and NFL Network.
Daniels, who was waived by the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday, visited the Browns Thursday.
“We like good football players and he would not be here unless we thought he was a good football player,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said Thursday. “Anytime you can add good football players and create competition… Those other guys are not going away either.
“I said this in the spring, I think the defensive line is going to be the strength of our team. Anytime we are adding better players or good players or anything, create more competition to get those guys better that are actually here too.”
Over seven seasons Daniels racked up 29 sacks and 47 tackles for loss in Green Bay where he made the Pro Bowl in 2017. Daniels has generated 271 total QB pressures for his career according to Pro Football Focus.
Similar to Gerald McCoy, who chose the Carolina Panthers over the Browns earlier this year, Daniels would have been a luxury to add to a defensive front that already includes Pro Bowlers Olivier Vernon, acquired in March along with Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants, Sheldon Richardson, signed as a free agent, and defensive end Myles Garrett.
“I’m confident in the group of guys we have,” Garrett said Thursday. “I think we can be dominant with them, but I know he’s a good player in his own right.”
Browns general manager John Dorsey, assistant GM Eliot Wolf and vice president of personnel Alonzo Highsmith have Packers roots and Dorsey was a member of the front office when Daniels was drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
