The Green Bay Packers have extended punter Daniel Whelan, the team announced on Thursday. Whelan was a great find from the team, as he joined the roster via the XFL’s DC Defenders in May of 2023. After beating out Pat O’Donnell that summer, he’s been the Packers’ starting punter.
Whelan was set to be a restricted free agent after the 2025 season, which means Green Bay would have had to use a $3.5 million right of first refusal tender on the punter to ensure that he didn’t hit unrestricted free agency,
had the team not extended him.
Contract details have yet to be released, but a multi-year Whelan extension would ensure that the Packers’ battery will be intact for a while. Long snapper Matt Orzech signed a three-year extension a little over a week ago, and kicker Brandon McManus signed a three-year deal with the team this offseason.
With Whelan’s deal done, Green Bay has 18 unrestricted or restricted free agent players going into 2026, meaning that they’re in contract seasons. Big names on that list include starters Romeo Doubs, receiver Christian Watson, left tackle Rasheed Walker, right guard Sean Rhyan and linebacker Quay Walker.
According to Puntalytics, Whelan was about a mid-level kicker in the league in 2024. The Irish product has a massive leg, but special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia stated this offseason that the team was hoping that he’d take a step up in his directional punting and understanding situational football, based on return teams’ alignments.
Before the Whelan extension, Spotrac had the Packers with $14.2 million remaining salary cap space this year, which was good for 18th in the NFL.
