The Lions’ decision to cut Riley Patterson led him to Jacksonville in August 2022. Nearly a year later, Detroit will step in to prevent Patterson hitting the waiver wire.
After the Jaguars announced they were cutting Patterson — complete with the customary farewell tweet — they have reached an agreement to trade him to the Lions. Patterson kicked in seven Lions games during the 2021 season. The Jags replaced Patterson with longtime Bronco Brandon McManus earlier Thursday.
Patterson provided the Jaguars with some rare kicker stability last season, kicking in all 19 games for the team after seven kickers came through from 2020-21. McManus obviously provides Jacksonville with much more experience, but the team will still collect an asset for its 2022 kicker. The Lions are sending the Jags a late-round pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. That asset will be a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
The Lions initially added Patterson off the Patriots’ practice squad in November 2021. The former UDFA out of Memphis then finished that season as Detroit’s primary kicker. Patterson made 13 of 14 field goals for the Lions that year, but the team waived him coming out of the preseason. In Jacksonville, Patterson made 30 of 35 field goal tries during the regular season and missed just one extra point (36-for-37). He also notched a game-winning field goal to complete a 27-point Jags comeback win over the Chargers in the wild-card round.
Patterson, 23, is due a $940K base salary this season. He can be retained via RFA tender next year. The Jags tendered Patterson as an ERFA in March, but the Broncos’ decision to cut McManus — in part due to cap savings, as they designated him a post-June 1 release — changed the AFC South team’s plans. It will impact the Lions’ path at kicker as well.
In signing XFLer John Parker Romo last week, the Lions already roster two kickers. They finished last season with Michael Badgley in that role. Badgley kicked in 12 games for the Lions last season and re-signed with the team in March. Badgley is tied to a one-year, $1.2MM deal. The Lions guaranteed their incumbent just $350K, opening the door to a kicking competition. Badgley made 20 of his 24 kicks as a Lion last year; both he and Patterson went 2-for-3 from beyond 50 yards.
This trade allowed Detroit to avoid losing Patterson via the waiver wire; the Lions’ 9-8 finish gave them the No. 18 spot in the waiver order. The Lions waived wide receiver Keytaon Thompson to make room for Patterson on the Roster.
Maybe they should have held onto Patterson to begin with.
The Lions never do anything right
A conditional 7th 3 years from now is a killer price to pay for kicker competition at camp.
It’s nothing it’s a 7th round pick & with all the comp pick’s its more like a 9th rd pick UDFA’s make teams all the time
Duh
Dumb statement
They must really like Patterson to pass on the opportunity to stick it to a division rival by signing either Mason Crosby or Robbie Gould.
How many kickers do they need? That’s at least 3 on the roster now.
Badgley will most likely be cut
You surely know they’re cutting one. C’mon….
That’s an obvious no-brainer. Just surprised they traded for a kicker when they re-signed Badgley and just signed that Romo guy.
Good move to trade for Patterson rather than risk losing him to one of 17 other teams ahead of them via a waiver claim.
If the Lions had gambled that Patterson would still be available to them at #18 via waivers and lost him to another team….
THE LIONS WOULD HAVE KICKED THEMSELVES !!
I guess the condition is his making the opening day roster. It doesn’t matter to the Jaguars if the Lions skip the waiver wire. It’s just a bonus asset that they could flip somewhere else. Who knows? It could come back to the Lions by 2026.
A conditional 7th rounder three years into the future. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a lower price paid for someone.
Better than nothing
I can’t understand why the Lions won’t sign Robbie Gould. He’s 100% on field goals in the playoffs. Feels like if they expect to make they playoffs, they should get the most accurate kicker in postseason history