Field-Flipping Weapon Gets Contract Extension Through 2027

Daniel Whelan, who’s well on his way to becoming the best punter in Green Bay Packers history, signed a contract extension with the team on Thursday.

According to a source, it’s a two-year extension that will keep him in Green Bay through the 2027 season. The total value is more than $7 million with more than $2 million guaranteed. Whelan would have been a restricted free agent after this season.

Whelan last season became the first punter in Packers history to average 46-plus yards per punt with a net average of 40-plus yards per punt in the same season. His 46.1-yard average and 40.2 net both ranked third all-time.

Whelan has come a long way in a short time. At UC-Davis, he was a second-team FCS All-American in 2021. Whelan went undrafted in 2022 and signed with the Saints but was released before training camp.

Whelan latched on with the DC Defenders of the XFL for the 2023 season. When their season was complete, he signed with the Packers and beat out veteran incumbent Pat O’Donnell. His leg strength was obvious. He averaged 46.2 yards per punt as a rookie, which was second-best in Packers history.

In 2023, his net average was 39.7 yards, and he had 18 inside-the-20 punts and five touchbacks. According to Pro Football Focus, 38.7 percent of his punts were returned, which ranked 11th. In 2024, his net average was 40.2 yards per punt, and he had 22 inside-the-20 punts and five touchbacks. Just 35.7 percent of his punts were returned, which ranked fourth.

“It’s a credit to him and his work ethic and the way in which he’s improved,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said on Thursday. “I think that the thing that gets overlooked a little bit is what he’s done the last few summers.”

Whelan has worked out in California with Mike Scifres, who punted for the Chargers for 13 seasons, A.J. Cole, who is the Raiders’ two-time All-Pro, and former NFL kicker Nick Novak.

“He’s been around other punters in the league and seen how they’ve progressed and how they’ve worked and what it’s supposed to be like,” Bisaccia said. “I think that he comes back each year, he’s come back really ready to go, and he’s done a lot of work on his own to get to the place that he’s at right now.”

Last season, 30 players punted the ball at least 34 times (two per game). Whelan ranked a dismal 28th with a net average of 40.2 yards. However, before the Bears’ trick-play punt-return touchdown in Week 18, Whelan entered the game ranked 13th with a net average of 42.1 yards. That would have blown the franchise record of 41.6 set by Justin Vogel in 2017 out of the water. That’s a remarkable feat considering the challenges of kicking in Green Bay.

In both seasons, he ranked fourth in hang time.

“I’ve been here awhile now so I know my ability so anything below that is not up to par,” he said during training camp. “I have to beat that every game or try to understand how to better it in certain situations.”

Bisaccia said the next step for Whelan is improving his consistency.

“I think the place he’s really gotten better in the last two years has been the red zone,” he said. “He’s done a really good job in the red zone, and being able to direct the football for him has been an improvement, as well. He’s got such a big leg, controlling it and keeping his steps short and those sort of things.

“And where he needs to improve is a little bit backed up what we can do coming out of the end zone. We’ve been backed up a little bit and how he handles those [can improve]. But he’s going to constantly work to improve his game and, hopefully, he’s going to keep ascending.”

Plus, Whelan is an excellent holder on punts, highlighted by his placement of Brandon McManus’ game-winning field goal against Houston.

“We get a lot of bad balls with Rich every single day,” Whelan said of that play. “I’ve been holding nonstop since I got here. So, I think just the repetition and doing bad balls with Rich, when it happens in a game or anything, it’s muscle memory at that point. I don’t really think of it as bad; I just know what to do.”

Whelan is a native of Dublin, Ireland. When he made Green Bay’s roster in 2023, he became the first Irish-born player to play in a regular-season game since kicker Neil O’Donoghue in 1985.

The Packers have locked up their specialist corps. Just before the start of free agency, they signed kicker Brandon McManus through the 2027 season. Last week, they signed long snapper Matt Orzech to a contract extension through 2028. Whelan would have been a restricted free agent after the season.

“It’s exciting organizationally to think that we have a battery,” Bisaccia said. “Two of them are relatively young and the punter is certainly an ascending player. And what we got from Brandon a year ago, I’d say the expectations are to get it again, and then the calming factor of the way Matt plays.

“So, I think organizationally, we’re excited about having those guys, where they’re not really worried about the future, to some degree. They’re worried about getting better each particular day, to see if they get better at their craft. So, we’re excited about the direction they’re going.”