Seahawks Officially Sign Tony McDaniel

Oct 23, 2011; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins players Sean Smith (24) and Tony McDaniel (78) try to recover a fumble during the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lou Novick-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve been waiting for this for a week now, but Tony McDaniel is (finally) a Seahawk. He visited with the team last week, and all signs pointed to him getting a deal done (he even had a physical) but then we didn’t hear anything until today.

McDaniels is a huge DT (6-7, 307 lb) DT who is occasionally powerful at the point of attack. He has difficulty keeping his pad level low enough, and thus gets pushed around at times as well.

Looking back over his career performance ratings, McDaniel simply isn’t impressive. He has negative ratings overall, against the run and against the pass in every season except one. In that year (2010) he played primarily at DE in a roll similar to how the Seahawks use Red Bryant.

A lot of people are pencilling in McDaniel in as the new starting 3-tech DT, but I just don’t see that. He profiles much more as a rotational player and Red Bryant backup more than anything else.

Obviously we’ll have to wait and see what his contract looks like, but I have a difficult time seeing McDaniel making this roster unless his contract contains a lot of guaranteed money.

It’s also possible that the Seahawks see something in McDaniel can can be “fixed” that will allow him to be more successful in Seattle than he was in Miami. Alan Branch was similarly disappointing before coming to the Seahawks, and he worked out well for the Seahawks in 2011.