It’s unfair to expect anyone to fill Don Muhlbach’s shoes. The man was a starting long snapper in this league for 17 seasons, which is no easy feat. Regimes change, times change, people want to bring in “their guy,” but none of that managed to dethrone the Muhl except for father time. Heck, the man played for eight different Detroit Lions head coaches and is now a special assistant (including assistant coaching duties) for the organization.
This article isn’t about Muhl though, it’s about the man we now see in his place on Sundays: Scott Daly.
If you missed any of the previous articles, you can check them out here: Tyrell Crosby, Tracy Walker, Charles Harris, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Alex Anzalone, Josh Reynolds, KhaDarel Hodge, Nick Williams, Dean Marlowe, Kalif Raymond, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Tim Boyle, Joel Heath, and Jack Fox.
Scott Daly
Expectations heading into 2021
Where does one set expectations for a long snapper? It’s a difficult thing to do, and an even more difficult thing to measure. The best metric is how often one hears their name when long snapping. It’s a position where folks usually won’t talk about you unless something goes wrong. Thus, for rookie long snapper Scott Daly, a quiet season meant a good season, especially in the shadow of the Muhl.
Actual role in 2021
17 games: 1 tackle
PFF Grade: 66.4
Yeah, there isn’t much more to the stats than that. Nonetheless, at a position like LS, the best ability is availability and Daly played all 17 games, so kudos to him for that. The only other means of measuring his performance is how many times I tweeted about a bad snap, which happened only once—during the preseason.
High snap from Scott Daly throws off Jack Fox’s punt. Miss you, Muhl
— Hamza Baccouche (@HamzaPOD) August 28, 2021
Outlook for 2022
Contract status: exclusive rights free agent
Since we don’t have any tweets about Daly messing up big time, one would have to assume he’s set to come back next season.
Daly got the job done and did so at the minimum contract per the NFL CBA of $660k. That doesn’t make a huge difference given how little long snappers are paid compared to other positions and even the great Muhl only averaged about $1 million a year. An ERFA offer for Daly would land him in the same ballpark as what he made last season, with a slight bump for having one accrued season.
Big picture though, Daly did what was asked of him and did it well. No need to fix what ain’t broken. Expect to see him back next season.
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