Lions Sign Accurate Former AFC Kicker to Practice Squad: Report

The Detroit Lions have troubles at kicker, and they took a step on Tuesday, October 4 to perhaps help remedy that for the future.

After an inconsistent Week 4, the Lions have added a player to the practice squad who was very consistent last weekend. Michael Badgley was an emergency addition for the Chicago Bears, and had a perfect weekend kicking the ball. His reward? Getting cut.

Badgley, though, didn’t have to wait long to find a team. According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Lions are adding Badgley to the practice squad.

“The Lions are signing kicker Michael Badgley to the practice squad, per source. Dan Campbell said Monday he’s hopeful Austin Seibert (right groin) will be able to kick this week. If not, it’ll be Badgley, who just kicked for the Bears on Sunday,” Pelissero tweeted.

Last week, Dominik Eberle was the team’s kicker and elevated from the practice squad due to the groin injury to Austin Seibert. He was erratic on extra points while drilling a 49 yard field goal.

No doubt, the Lions saw what Badgley did against the New York Giants for the Bears. The kicker was 4-4 in the game with 12 points and a long kick of 40 yards. That qualified as one of the best performances of the week at kicker, as he accounted for all of Chicago’s points.

A short time after playing for the Bears, Badgley will now come to the Lions, where he could have a chance at a role.

Lions Make Kicker Shuffle This Week

The move to add Badgley was a corresponding signing after the team had released Eberle earlier on Tuesday. Eberle wasn’t the reason the Lions lost on Sunday, but his struggles helped in that.

Eberle missed a pair of extra points, so the Lions had a kicker tryout. They brought in Lirim Hajrullahu and Sam Ficken, neither of whom they ended up signing. While Badgley will likely be on the practice squad, he could be elevated fast if Seibert struggles. In Week 3, he missed a 47 and 54 yard field goal amid Detroit’s loss.

The Lions are looking for something stable at kicker, and the hope is that Badgley can provide that.

Badgley’s Career Stats & Highlights

At 27, Badgley isn’t that old, but he has been in the league for four years already and has been very accurate thus far in his four stops.

An undrafted free agent out of Miami, Badgley signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018 and ended up as the team’s kicker. His rookie year, he was a stellar 15-16 on kicks with a long of 59 yards. Come 2020, Badgley lost some of that accuracy, going 24-33 and 36 of 39 on extra points.

After exiting Los Angeles, Badgley kicked in one game for Tennessee in 2020, and was 1-2 on extra points. The Indianapolis Colts picked him up in 2021, and he was 18-21 on kicks and a perfect 39-39 on extra points. Overall, he has made 80.5% of his kicks in the NFL.

Badgley offers some solid NFL experience and has proven to have a strong leg before. Perhaps he can be a player who stabilizes the situation for the Lions.

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