CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 29: Chase Daniel #4 of the Chicago Bears looks to pass during a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field on September 29, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Vikings 16-6. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions have secured a veteran backup for Matthew Stafford, as Chase Daniel is coming aboard.
Over an NFL career spanning 10 seasons with four teams (Saints, Chiefs, Eagles and Bears), Chase Daniel has made five regular season starts and thrown 218 passes over 65 total games. That’s nice work as a career backup if you can get it, and according to Spotrac Daniel reached over $34 million in career earnings last year when he was with the Chicago Bears.
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was on track for the best season of his career last year, before a back injury sidelined him and he eventually missed the final eight games. The combination of David Blough and Jeff Driskel delivered just about as expected, as the Lions lost all eight games they started to help secure a 3-12-1 record and the No. 3 pick in April’s draft. That could go down as one of the best unintended tanks in pro sports history.
So finding a capable veteran to backup, but obviously not compete to replace, Stafford had to be somewhere on the radar for the Lions this offseason. There’s no better personification of that concept than Daniel, and indeed he will be headed to Detroit on a multi-year deal.
Contract Details
ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported a three-year, $13.05 million deal for Daniel with the Lions. The deal also includes a voidable clause. Details on the guaranteed money, and how the voidable clause could be triggered, don’t appear to be out yet.
National Reaction
The Lions needed a backup quarterback who can hold down the fort in Stafford’s absence, and Daniel was available. If he fulfills the whole contract he’ll top $47 million in career earnings, at 36 years old, and if things play out as hoped for the Lions with not many more than that handful of career starts.