Packers underrated weapon proves he has the talent and mindset needed to reach elite status at his position in the NFL
Daniel Whelan is a big part of the Packers’ special teams plans.
Born in Ireland, signed with the DC Defenders of the XFL. At that point, it was unimaginable that Daniel Whelan would become an elite NFL punter. But not every path has to be the same. The All-XFL season in 2023 brought him the chance to return to the major league on a contract with the Green Bay Packers, he beat veteran Pat O’Donnell in a competition, and has been a real weapon for the Packers since.
Last week, he signed a two-year, $6.2 million extension, with a $2.1 million signing bonus—he’s now under contract through 2027.
But how do you develop as a punter? It’s not necessarily something young players dream of growing up, especially for a man not born in the United States.
Offseason work
Enter Aaron Perez, who also had an unusual path. Curiously, he was a punter in football and a goalkeeper in soccer. He played college football at UCLA and was a professional soccer player. After his career was over, Perez connected with Chris Sailer and became a punter coach—and he has worked with Whelan for a long time as a part of the Punt Factory.
During the season, Whelan and Perez don’t talk all the time. Eventually, they will connect. But it’s in the offseason that the development truly happens.
“Punters, like a guy such as Daniel Whelan, will look at their season overall. He’ll get feedback from his coaches, things like improving his directional right balls, his hang time, or whatever it may be,” Perez told A to Z Sports. “Most of the time it’s pretty generic, unless there was something specific they were focusing on. A lot of times it’s about recovering, resting, and then really focusing on building your body back, continuing mobility work, getting stronger, and using the experience from previous years to your advantage. There are specific points, Dan may have worked on shortening his steps this offseason, for example. It may not be as glamorous as what a receiver works on, but we definitely have things we focus on.”
Daniel Whelan spent the 2022 preseason with the New Orleans Saints, but couldn’t make the team. In his third season with the Packers, the progression is evident. In the first week of this season, Whelan was second in yards per punt, fourth in net yards, and sixth in PFF punting grade. He had the longest punt of the week during the Packers’ 27-13 win over the Detroit Lions. Head coach Matt LaFleur has called him a weapon multiple times, and it’s warranted.
“The points of emphasis for him this offseason were short steps and just cleaning up—being strong, not stronger, but making sure he’s good with his direction,” Perez added. “He feels like short steps are going to help with that. Anytime we talked, it was about shortening his steps, pretty vanilla. But as such a big and talented guy, if his steps are short and compact and he keeps his body balanced, he’s going to hit his spots a lot. That was a big focus for him.”
Right mind
Daniel Whelan moved to the US when he was 13. Now he’s 26, is established as an NFL player, and has made an amount of money that any regular person would be incredibly proud of. But don’t think he’s satisfied.
“His mindset this year is to be better than last year, improve, and continue to cement his place as one of the better punters in the league,” Aaron Perez stressed. “I just want to make sure the guys I work with are doing well and feeling good.”
Daniel Whelan is feeling good, and the Packers couldn’t be feeling any better with a bottom of the roster move two years ago that has paid major dividends for the special teams.
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