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The Detroit Lions had one of the most consistent young kickers in the NFL down the stretch in Riley Patterson, but that doesn’t mean the team is going to stop the grind as it relates to finding the best possible solution for their future.
On Tuesday, February 8, the Lions made another move designed to help them do just that. The team added another kicker to the mix in Alderick Rosas, keeping him around for the 2022 offseason after he was added to the practice squad late in 2021.
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Early in the afternoon, the Lions revealed that they would be signing Rosas to the futures deal with a tweet:
Rosas joins a crowded kicker rook with incumbent Riley Patterson and veteran Austin Seibert, both of whom kicked for the team in 2021-22. With this move, the Lions could be sending a message that they want to see their younger kickers get tested in order to determine who should win the job.
Rosas’s Stats & Highlights
Even though he is but 27 years old, Rosas has tons of NFL experience under his belt already. The kicker entered into the league in 2016 out of Southern Oregon as an undrafted free agent, and bounced around early in his career, from Tennessee first to the New York Giants where he stuck from 2017-2019. While with the Giants, Rosas had a big season in 2018, when he cracked the Pro Bowl by only missing two kicks all season long. Rosas was also named a second-team All-Pro for his work on the field that year.
Here’s a look at his greatest hits from that season:
Rosas would go on to Jacksonville in 2020 and New Orleans in 2021 before landing with the Lions late in the season. As a whole, he’s been decent in his career, going 70-86 on kicks and 95-103 on extra points. After his big season, Rosas got an erratic leg, but the Lions will see if he has worked those issues out now.
Lions Kicker Position Might Not Be Settled for 2021
The Lions seemingly fixed their kicker woes this season by signing Patterson, but with this news, it’s worth wondering whether or not the team is going to have a kicking competition in camp again to see who can win the job. Rosas is now in the mix, and it’s important to remember Detroit also has Seibert on the roster, who went 4-6 on kicks with the team before getting injured, which necessitated the Patterson signing.
When he was with the team, Patterson wasted little time making a big impact. Early in Week 16 against Atlanta, Patterson booted a 26 yard field goal to help Detroit take a 3-0 lead in the game. It was the eighth straight kick he has converted in his Detroit career, which established a brad new record for the team that Patterson will keep himself. The Lions PR account tweeted the record:
This new record is quite impressive for the Lions being that the team has had tons of good kickers through the years like Eddie Murray, Jason Hanson and most recently Matt Prater. Only Patterson, though, remained perfect through his first eight kicks of his career.
Given the fact that Patterson was untested in pressure situations and from distance means the Lions might want to make sure he’s the guy during the offseason. Adding a player like Rosas, who has experience, is an interesting way to ensure the best man will win the job.
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