Patriots 90-Man Roster Spotlight: Daniel Ekuale

The New England Patriots can have up to 90 players under contract during the offseason. Patriots Football Now will profile all 90 players over the upcoming weeks. Today’s featured player is defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale.

Daniel Ekuale

Ekuale played collegiately for Washington State. The native of American Samoa appeared in 51 games for the Cougars over four seasons. However, Ekuale was not selected in the 2018 NFL Draft. He ended up signing with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent, spending a portion of the season on their practice squad but not being activated for any games.

Daniel Ekuale made his NFL debut for the Browns in 2019. He played in seven games, recording four tackles including one tackle for a loss. Cleveland waived Ekuale at the start of the 2020 season. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad and worked his way to the active roster. He ended up playing in nine games for the Jaguars, recording 13 tackles and a sack. Jacksonville released Ekuale before the start of the 2021 season.

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The 2022 season was Ekuale’s most productive in the NFL. He played in 15 games for the Patriots. Ekuale set career highs in games, tackles (14), solo tackles (10), QB hits (3), and tied his highs in sacks (2.0) and TFL (2).

Daniel Ekuale takes down Josh Allen for a huge sack on third down pic.twitter.com/BMEagRgOGF

— BennyGIFs (@BennyGIFs) January 8, 2023

Daniel Ekuale made New England’s initial 53-man roster out of camp in 2023. He suffered a torn biceps in the third game of the season. The injury kept him sidelined for the rest of the 2023 campaign.

Pro Football Focus has not graded Ekuale favorably throughout his career. However, his job is often to occupy blockers and allow the team’s linebackers to make plays. Thus his contributions do not always show up on the stat sheet. He did score his highest grade (88.5) in the game he got injured in to end his 2023 season.

Contract Status

Daniel Ekuale has one-year remaining on his contract with the New England Patriots. His cap number for 2024 is $1.68 million.

Fortunately, Ekuale’s training camp participation thus far does not seem limited by last year’s injury. All players from this unit have NFL experience. The only newcomers to the group from 2023 are Armon Watts and Josiah Bronson. Competitions for roster spots will be fierce throughout preseason, as was the case a year ago.

Christian Barmore’s health situation is a true wild card in this situation. Nobody on the roster can replace Barmore’s production if he is lost for any time due to his blood clot diagnosis. And the situation is scary enough that it goes far beyond the football field.

If Barmore can start the season in the lineup, there seem to be three roster locks from this group: Barmore, Godchaux, and Watts. Ekuale will compete with Pharms, Roberts, Hill, and Bronson to earn a place on the 53-man roster.

Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington previously being the team’s defensive line coach should work to the benefit of players he values. Based on Ekuale’s usage when healthy in New England that works to his advantage. The prediction here is that Daniel Ekuale ends up on the New England Patriots 53-man roster, but he’ll have to earn it in camp by outperforming those looking to take his job.