Coach Dan Campbell’s lack of confidence in his kicker is arguably what cost the Detroit Lions a chance to win the NFC Championship Game last season, and the team is looking to one of this year’s UFL sensations to solve that problem.
The Lions signed Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates to a two-year contract. Bates’ agent This was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal was announced after his client also visited the Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers. News of Bates going to Detroit was first reported by Aaron Wilson of KPRC-TV in Houston.
Bates, 24, made field goals of 64 and 62 yards this season with the Panthers. Arizona Cardinals’ Matt Prater was the only NFL kicker to make a 62-yard field goal last season, doing so in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys. (Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker holds the NFL record with a 66-yard field goal against the Lions in 2021.)
He signed free agent contracts with the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year but was waived by both teams.
In the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, Campbell opted to have kicker Michael Badgley try two field goal attempts in the second half on fourth down, instead of trying 46- and 48-yard field goal attempts. Detroit missed both attempts, and the missed six-point chance may have been the deciding factor in a 34-31 loss.
The Lions already had two kickers on their roster, Badgley and rookie free agent James Turner. Badgley was 4 of 4 on field goal attempts and 13 of 15 on extra points, with his longest attempt being 41 yards. Badgley joined Detroit after Riley Patterson was released after 13 games.
Bates has big legs, but he wasn’t the most accurate kicker with the Panthers, making 77 percent of his field goal attempts (17 of 22), but all five of his misses came from 50 yards or further out. There’s a chance Detroit could use Bates for kickoffs and field goal attempts from 50 yards or further out, but roster spots are at a premium and the Lions might not want to use two placekickers.
Bates, a former kickoff specialist in college who played at Arkansas, Texas and Central Arkansas (where he also played football), kicked a 60-plus yard field goal early in the UFL season, his first kick in a game since high school.