Getty The Vikings must-avoid draft mistake falls on the defense this offseason.
The Minnesota Vikings have been haunted by kicker miscues since Gary Anderson’s wide left field goal attempt in the 1998 NFC Championship Game. Kicking woes have been exacerbated in the Mike Zimmer era that has seen four different placekickers in six years entering the 2020 season.
Dan Bailey looks to be the next kicker out after the 10-year veteran missed three field goals and an extra point in a 12-point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, adding to an additional three kicks he missed against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12.
But after avid speculation of whether or not Bailey would be released, Zimmer doubled down on Bailey.
In a surprising move on Tuesday, the Vikings released practice squad kicker Tristen Vizcaino. Vizcaino was the only immediate replacement option to Bailey on the roster as the NFL COVID-19 protocols require a six-day entry testing period before a player can join the team, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The #Vikings have activated CB Mark Fields II (@MFII__) from IR and signed S Curtis Riley (@curtis35riley) to the practice squad.
CB Kris Boyd has been placed on IR and practice squad K Tristan Vizcaino has been released.
Minnesota did have Chandler Catanzaro in for a tryout on Tuesday, though the five-year NFL veteran hasn’t registered a kick in an NFL contest since Week 17 of the 2018 season with the Carolina Panthers. His sixth day under COVID-19 protocol would be Sunday, however, and without any prior work with the kicking unit, it’d be a gamble to start Cantazaro the same day he’d be allowed to join the team.
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Other Options at Kicker
The Vikings have one other option at kicker in free agent Taylor Bertolet, who also worked out with the team on Monday.
Bertolet has yet to make a 53-man roster in five NFL seasons but kicked for the Salt Lake Stallions in the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019. He converted 9-of-14 field-goal attempts with the Stallions, an improvement on his 66% success rate in college, however, likely not convincing enough to take over for Bailey.
Barring Catanzaro’s future with the team, Bertolet, if signed, could be the third kicker added to the Vikings practice squad this season.
Ryan Longwell on Dan Bailey’s Misses: ‘It’s Easily Fixable’
Former Green Bay Packers kicker Ryan Longwell preceded Brett Favre’s move across the border as Longwell kicked for Minnesota from 2006-11. He was a model of stability at the position, converting 86% of his tries before rookie Blair Walsh took the reigns in 2012.
Walsh was the beginning of renewed volatility at the position, leading to his release in 2016 after missing a critical field goal in the NFC Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. Kai Forbath, who missed eight extra points between 2016-2017, was followed by Daniel Carlson, who was cut two games into the 2018 season, leading to Bailey replacing the former fifth-round pick.
Longwell has watched Bailey throughout the season and said that his kicking miscues are “easily fixable,” attributing his misses to a similar issue Carlson faced in 2018 and has since come back from as the Las Vegas’ Raiders starting kicker.
“If I was standing next to him, there are two things I would do: Look at his alignment and adjust his head position to be a little more on top of the ball,” Longwell told Michael Rand of the Star Tribune. “I don’t think he’s aiming where he thinks he’s aiming. His head is a little far back. It results in a ball that starts right and goes right. Or a hit off the ground that shoots right. And then the miss left is the overcompensation. It’s a simple fix. It’s a quick fix. But it has to be carefully done.”
Given the messiness of the COVID-19-plagued season and the protocols for adding free agent players, Longwell advised the Vikings to stick with Bailey.
“I don’t think there’s a better option out there,” Longwell said. “I think you ride with Dan, first off. You trust his history over a quick fix. I do think he can pull out of this. I would trust him over anyone else at this point.”
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- Trevor Squire is a Heavy contributor covering the Minnesota Vikings and journalism graduate from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Connect with him on Twitter @trevordsquire and join our Vikings community at Heavy on Vikings on Facebook.