Green Bay Packers: Mike Daniels in Line for New Deal Before Start of 2015 Season

Now that the roster is set after the 2015 NFL draft and the signing of several undrafted rookie free agents, the Green Bay Packers are ready to start preparing for the 2015 NFL season.

The Packers have already held their rookie minicamp earlier this month.

From May 27 to 29, June 2 to 4 and June 9 to 12, the Packers will hold their organized team activities.

Then from June 16 to 18, the Packers will have their mandatory minicamp.

Players report to training camp on July 29 and camp begins the following day.

But as much as the Packers begin to prepare for the 2015 season, a season in which the team will try to win their fifth consecutive NFC North title and perhaps another Vince Lombardi Trophy, they also need to look to the future.

The future as in possibly trying to extend the contracts of certain players who will be unrestricted free agents in 2016.

The list includes quarterback Scott Tolzien, running back James Starks, tight end Andrew Quarless, offensive lineman Don Barclay, guard Lane Taylor, defensive end Mike Daniels, cornerback Casey Hayward, safety Sean Richardson, outside linebacker/defensive end Mike Neal, kicker Mason Crosby and long snapper Brett Goode.

Outside linebacker Andy Mulumba will be a restricted free agent.

Looking at that list, one name sticks out to me in terms of getting a contract extension done at some point soon. That would be the player who wears No. 76, Daniels.

Yes, there are others on the list who I would also consider for contract extensions, but a lot of that would depend on the way the players perform in 2015.

The 6'0", 305-pound Daniels has put together a nice track record in his three years in Green Bay. In fact, he has improved each year.

Daniels is just 26 and is the best defensive lineman on the club. Daniels is a three-down player and is versatile against the run and the pass.

Plus, Daniels has been pretty much injury-free as a Packer.

In his career in Green Bay, Daniels has 76 tackles and 14 sacks. In 2014 alone, Daniels had 41 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

According to Pro Football Focus, Daniels had 41 combined sacks, hits and hurries last season, which ranked the former Iowa Hawkeye 11th in the league among interior rushers.

Daniels also brings a fiery presence to the defense of the Packers. That is welcome most of the time, but in the 2014 NFC Championship Game against the Seattle Seahawks, Daniels let his emotions get the best of him.

After safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had picked off a Russell Wilson pass in the first quarter and returned it to the the 4-yard line of the Seahawks, Daniels was penalized 15 yards for taunting.

The offense of the Packers started at the Seattle 19 instead of the 4. The drive ended up stalling at the Seahawks' 1, leading to a Mason Crosby 18-yard field goal.

In the end, the Packers didn't take advantage of multiple opportunities to blow open the contest and then basically imploded over the last five minutes of the game, as the Seahawks beat the Packers in overtime 28-22.

Daniels talked about the lessons he's learned from that painful loss, via Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"

You have to learn from it, and seeing how that’s the last game of the season you don’t get a chance to go over it and evaluate it as a group. So guys find some time to watch it, break it down and move past it. There’s a lot of great learning points from it, just like any other game. So that’s the way we have to take it and the next game is the next week.

"

Learning points like the costly penalty Daniels committed.

“I’ve watched it quite a bit," Daniels said. "You’ve got to learn from it. I know I can learn myself. I know I had a really stupid penalty and that’s something I never plan on doing again. Like I said, amongst other things, you can really learn from it."

Daniels is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, which will net him $1.54 million in 2015. Looking at some of the contracts that were signed by similar position players this past offseason, Daniels looks to make between $6.5 million and $8 million a year in his next deal.

Daniels would be wise to recall the contract situation of nose tackle B.J. Raji in 2013. During that season, the Packers offered Raji $8 million a year to stay with the Packers.

Raji and his agent declined the offer and No. 90 ended up have a very mediocre season. The result? Raji settled for a one-year deal with the Packers worth $4 million in 2014.

Raji then suffered a torn right biceps in a preseason game last summer and missed the entire season.

Coming off that injury, Raji agreed to sign another one-year deal for the 2015 season worth $3.5 million, which rises to $4 million with incentives.

That is another lesson that Daniels must dwell on.

Daniels appears to be very happy in Green Bay. The Packers have to be pretty pleased with the performance of No. 76 on the field.

It appears to me that the marriage between Daniels and the Packers will continue.

Sooner, rather than later.