Lions Sign Ex-Cowboys LS After Starter’s Season-Ending Injury
A familiar face is returning for the Detroit Lions following long snapper Scott Daly’s season-ending injury.
On November 1, the Lions signed Jake McQuaide to the practice squad, as reported by Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire. After losing to Daly for the starting spot during training camp, McQuaide was cut loose by the Lions in August.
Despite being signed to the practice squad at first, McQuaide, a veteran of the Dallas Cowboys, may wind up being a key member of a Lions team that is aiming for its first divisional championship in almost 20 years.
Detroit: Jake McQuaide’s Second Chance
McQuaide faced a difficult task against Daly despite having the opportunity to win the long snapper position on the team when he signed with the Lions in March. The Notre Dame product, a former undrafted free agent, was well-liked by coaches and had spent the previous two seasons playing long snapper in Detroit.
Speaking to reporters on August 5, Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp stated that, following some shaky play in 2022, he wanted Daly to have some competition. However, Daly ultimately prevailed in the competition between McQuaide and himself during training camp.
Fipp gave Daly some credit for his improvement efforts.
“Daly has done a good job since he’s been here, but I felt like personally last season—and he and I have talked about this—he didn’t make the progress we were hoping for from him the year before,” Fipp remarked. “We believed he improved, but competition can sometimes hasten that process,” the player said.
It wasn’t always certain that Daly would stay in his position. The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy pointed out that the Pro Bowler McQuaide was a significant addition to the Lions.
“This is going to be a battle,” Pouncy wrote. “Good teams are always looking for ways to improve.”
According to Pouncy, teams seldom make changes at long snapper and frequently retain players for extended periods of time, so the Lions’ decision to bring in Daly’s competition was noteworthy.
“Since teams rarely bring in competition at long snapper, Daly, the current starter, shouldn’t think his position is guaranteed,” Pouncy wrote.
Lions Make Other Additions
The Lions made another addition this week, acquiring wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones from the Cleveland Browns at the trade deadline. Though Peoples-Jones has seen a decrease in production after a career-best season in 2022, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he saw a place for him in the wide receiving corps.
“I always feel like you’re one injury away,” Campbell said, via the team website. “That was a position we felt like if we could find a steady, reliable guy that fits us that could play outside that was something that we wanted to look and see if we could acquire.
“DPJ (People-Jones) out there we felt like really fit us. He fits our style. He’s smart and he can play multiple positions. He plays everything for them out there. We just feel like he’ll be a good fit.”
