Packers, Daniels not close to new deal

[Carl]

I know it's not just up to TT when a player resigns as the player certainly has a say, but no really good player under TT has left after his rookie deal.

I bet Daniels sticks around.

 

[metallicblaze]

The more Daniels plays like this, the more and more likely he gets Liuget and Casey money. I'm still a little iffy on Raji. He's good, but can he do it when it's not contract year, is the question.

 

[Half Empty]

Even a bigger question with Raji is why he couldn't do it last contract year. I realize folks will say he wasn't used properly, but that doesn't account for the eye test of just not trying very hard.

 

[PikeBadger]

I'm also curious if Raji can maintain the level of effort we've seen over a 16 week season. I love the way he's playing now!

 

[Einstein McFly]

Daniels has always played hard and should get paid accordingly. Ten mil seems about right. If Raji played this well his whole career he's be making big money, but he hasn't, so he won't. I don't think it's crazy to think that Raji, Daniels and Guion will be looking for huge money that we can't afford, especially if we stop paying Peppers so much.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

this unit works as a whole. raji couldnt do it himself. id bet half a sack of nuts daniels couldnt either. it wasnt until guion came along, did things fall into place. peppers is a parallel for mathews and the lb corps... guion and peppers opened up the def for daniels and mathews. raji coming back and playing great has blown the whole thibg open imo. pennell might not get the pass rush daniels gets. but he will push the pocket, and with the guys we have around daniels now. pennell would look very good too

 

[thisisnate]

Question... now that Raji seems like he's going to be playing NT pretty much exclusively for us in the future, will his dollar amount go down accordingly? The highest paid NT in the league right now is making just north of $5 mil a year, but Raji was looking for 8 not that long ago, which is 3-4DE money.

 

[Half Empty]

And aren't we glad he thought so highly of himself?

 

[HardRightEdge]

Even a bigger question with Raji is why he couldn't do it last contract year. I realize folks will say he wasn't used properly, but that doesn't account for the eye test of just not trying very hard.

He came to the realization that being a nice guy was not sufficient to secure a legacy.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...ain-punishing-form-b99460391z1-296011161.html

"I had to step back and say, 'Listen, B.J. Raji, when people think of your name, no matter how good of a person you are, they're going to think of the football player,'" he said. "You can't change that. The only thing you can change is what they remember. So now, I understand that even though it's a game, it's my job and that's how I'm going to be perceived — right, wrong or indifferent — and that's worth more than money."

The fact that the Packers were the only team willing to pay him after 2013, to a modest one-year deal no less, followed by a year on the sidelines to contemplate his uncertain future, were certainly a couple of wake-up calls.

The other factors involved are (1) either scheme change or Matthews "Raji whispering", take your pick, (2) a year of R&R after several years of extremely high snap counts, (3) a more sane 50% defensive snap count this season and (4) he's in better condition.

As valuable as Daniels is, his defensive snap count for both last year and this year to date are coincidentally (or perhaps by plan?) 63% with a figure in the 40's before that. They were running Raji out there at 80% of the time, plus or minus, up until 2013 when it dropped to 58%. What happened then? Besides the fact he may have been worn down, refer to the other factors above.

As for Daniels' snap counts, a guy of equal value in both base and nickel, that may be a lesson learned.

Be forewarned! It is possible someone will pipe in with a quibbling irrelevancy over a few percentage points. I've taken the counts from Football Outsiders' query tool, which appear to include playoff games when the "all" function is selected. Or maybe not. It really doesn't matter one way or the other.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/snapcounts

 

[PikeBadger]

He came to the realization that being a nice guy was not sufficient to secure a legacy.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...ain-punishing-form-b99460391z1-296011161.html

"I had to step back and say, 'Listen, B.J. Raji, when people think of your name, no matter how good of a person you are, they're going to think of the football player,'" he said. "You can't change that. The only thing you can change is what they remember. So now, I understand that even though it's a game, it's my job and that's how I'm going to be perceived — right, wrong or indifferent — and that's worth more than money."

The fact that the Packers were the only team willing to pay him after 2013, to a modest one-year deal no less, followed by a year on the sidelines to contemplate his uncertain future, were certainly a couple of wake-up calls.

The other factors involved are (1) either scheme change or Matthews "Raji whispering", take your pick, (2) a year of R&R after several years of extremely high snap counts, (3) a more sane 50% defensive snap count this season and (4) he's in better condition.

As valuable as Daniels is, his defensive snap count for both last year and this year to date are coincidentally (or perhaps by plan?) 63% with a figure in the 40's before that. They were running Raji out there at 80% of the time, plus or minus, up until 2013 when it dropped to 58%. What happened then? Besides the fact he may have been worn down, refer to the other factors above.

As for Daniels' snap counts, a guy of equal value in both base and nickel, that may be a lesson learned.

Be forewarned! It is possible someone will pipe in with a quibbling irrelevancy over a few percentage points. I've taken the counts from Football Outsiders' query tool, which appear to include playoff games when the "all" function is selected. Or maybe not. It really doesn't matter one way or the other.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/snapcounts

I'd say that Raji is about where I'd prefer to see him in terms of snap counts but I hate it that they are using him as much as they are on special teams.

Was surprised to see that Randall's snap count is as high as it is. He's getting more playing time than I expected.

Lacy and Starks are almost equal in snaps so far.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Question... now that Raji seems like he's going to be playing NT pretty much exclusively for us in the future, will his dollar amount go down accordingly? The highest paid NT in the league right now is making just north of $5 mil a year, but Raji was looking for 8 not that long ago, which is 3-4DE money.

I was surprised to see the highest paid 3-4 DT is only paid $5.25 million. I think if Raji continues to play like he has so far this season he will look for a more lucrative contract next offseason though.

 

[metallicblaze]

Probably because NT's don't usually get the juicy stats like sacks, etc...They mainly plug up the holes so other guys can get in their. The guys who can still get sacks while doing that, are the ones that should be getting paid.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Was surprised to see that Randall's snap count is as high as it is. He's getting more playing time than I expected.

His defensive snap count % by game are as follows, in order from week 1 to week 5: 79%, 23%, 76%, 78%, 46%

By in large, he's been a cover corner in nickel/dime a decent percent of the time. Part of the reason he may not get much notice is teams have not thrown at him much. Macklin beat him a couple of times (one of which Macklin dropped in space); there was another sideline deep ball...I think it was Kaepernick-to-Patton, where he had close inside coverage, turned for ball, but QB put it right between the receiver and the sidelines.

I can't think of much else to note. Part of it is that teams are not throwing at him much.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Are we completely sure that the coaches aren't planning on Lacy replacing Daniels on the dline next year? I mean, he's gotta be bulking up for some reason...maybe at his current pace he'll replace Raji?

 

[Sky King]

Are we completely sure that the coaches aren't planning on Lacy replacing Daniels on the dline next year? I mean, he's gotta be bulking up for some reason...maybe at his current pace he'll replace Raji?

Aha! Balance. After all, Rajii has played FB in the past. I think you're on to something.