The deadline for teams to extend tender offers to their restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents looms next week. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:
Although the Lions no longer have ex-Patriot staffers running their operation, they still looked to the New England roster to help their kicking situation.
The Lions are signing kicker Riley Pattersonoff the Patriots’ practice squad, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. The team is restocking its kicker situation, with the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett adding (via Twitter) the team is signing Aldrick Rosas to its practice squad. Detroit placed Austin Seibert on IR on Saturday.
By rule, Patterson must remain on the Lions’ active roster for at least three weeks. The former Memphis kicker will replace Ryan Santoso here. Santoso is now off Detroit’s practice squad.
Santoso kicked in three games for the Lions, his fourth team this year, and went 5-for-6 on extra points and 2-for-3 on field goals. The missed field goal came during Sunday’s tie game in Pittsburgh, which certainly did not feature optimal kicking conditions. Santoso has been with the Giants, Panthers, Titans and Lions this year.
Patterson entered the league as a Vikings UDFA in May but bounced to the Patriots last month. Minnesota cut him from its IR via injury settlement in August. Patterson has yet to kick in an NFL game but spent the previous four seasons as Memphis’ kicker. He made 92% of his field goal tries as a junior in 2019 but saw his make rate plummet to 68% last season. Patterson will be the Lions’ third kicker this year, following Seibert and Santoso.
Santoso joined the Giants a few months after they waived Rosas, who has since bounced to the Jaguars and Saints. New Orleans moved on from the former Pro Bowler earlier this season. Rosas kicked in four games with the Saints, making 1 of 4 field goal attempts.
Rodrigo Blankenship‘s hip injury played a role in the Colts’ collapse Monday night, and the team is looking into temporary replacements. Michael Badgley and Brett Maher are working out for the Colts on Wednesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Indianapolis might not stop with just these two for workouts, Rapoport notes, with Blankenship in jeopardy of missing time. But for now, these are the free agents the Colts have identified as their top fill-in options. Blankenship, who arrived in Indy as a UDFA last year, has not missed a game yet as a pro.
The Colts are expanding this workout, with Tom Pelissero of NFL.com adding that Aldrick Rosas and Riley Patterson are also part of the audition (Twitter link). The Saints released Rosas earlier this month, while Patterson — a four-year kicker at Memphis — is a rookie UDFA who has yet to make his NFL debut.
The team gave Badgley a physical, according to the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson (on Twitter), potentially a sign he won the competition. But no signing has as of yet taken place.
Badgley, 26, kicked in one game for the Titans this season but could not hold the job. Tennessee cut him after he missed a field goal and an extra point in a Week 1 loss to Arizona. While Badgley is best known for his three-year run as the Chargers’ kicker, he entered the NFL in 2018 as a Colts UDFA. The Colts waived Badgley after his rookie training camp, with Adam Vinatieri still going strong at that point.
Maher, 31, has not kicked in a regular-season game since the Cowboys cut him late in the 2019 season. The former CFL specialist has, however, caught on with several teams in the many months since. Maher has made stops with the Jets, Washington, Texans, Cardinals and Saints but did not make his way onto any of the teams’ regular-season rosters. Maher, whom New Orleans released with an injury settlement in August, has made three 60-plus-yard field goals during his short NFL career (29 games from 2018-19).
Tuesday afternoon marked the deadline for teams to cut down from 90 to 85 players. We’ll keep track of those cuts and the day’s other minor moves here:
The Vikings have filled out their initial undrafted free agent class, according to a team announcement. Here are the 11 rookies the Vikings will bring in to join their 11-man draft class:
The Vikings are guaranteeing $100K of Proehl’s base salary and adding a $15K signing bonus, veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson tweets. This will mark another second-generation NFL wideout for the Vikes, who already employ Don Beebe‘s son, Chad. Blake Proehl’s father, Ricky Proehl, played 17 NFL seasons. Christian Elliss joins Proehl in being the son of an NFLer; his father, Luther Elliss, played 10 seasons as a defensive tackle (nine with the Lions).
Patterson will join Greg Joseph as the Vikings’ kickers. Minnesota added Joseph in February, but he has not kicked in a regular-season game since 2019. He and Patterson, who kicked in 51 games for the Tigers, figure to compete for the job in camp. Patterson missed seven field goals as a senior but made 23 of 25 kicks in 2019. They will vie to succeed Dan Bailey, who struggled last season.
Philyor proving to be an NFL-caliber receiver could potentially land him an endorsement deal, at least at Minneapolis-area Burger Kings, with his nickname being geared around his affinity for Whoppers as a boy. At Indiana, he posted a 1,002-yard receiving season as a junior in 2019.