The Detroit Lions‘ kicking competition is down to two.
The Lions cut veteran kicker Aldrick Rosas on Tuesday and were awarded defensive John Cominsky off waivers from the Atlanta Falcons.
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Rosas, a Pro Bowler with the New York Giants in 2018, spent part of last season on the Lions’ practice squad, kicking in one game and making his only field goal attempt.
The Lions signed Rosas to a futures contract in February, but special teams coordinator Dave Fipp indicated Rosas was around in part because of concerns about Austin Seibert’s health.
Seibert opened last season as Lions kicker, but missed the second half of the year after undergoing adductor surgery. He is back kicking in Organized Team Activities.
Riley Patterson kicked the final seven games for the Lions last season
Seibert and Patterson will have a training camp competition for the job. Before Tuesday’s moves, the Lions were the only NFL team with three kickers on their roster.
“Every job’s up in the air. And I mean that,” Fipp said last week. “Now, sometimes there’s reasons that one guy might make it over another and I’m not necessarily talking about the kicker position. But draft status, something like that, might influence it at some point. But I would say in general for us, the best guy’s going to win the job. It’s really not me deciding, those guys separate themselves and end up kind of making the decision for us.”
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Cominsky, a fourth-round pick in 2019 out of Division II Charleston, played in 27 games over three seasons for the Falcons. He has 1.5 career sacks and made his only start for the Falcons in 2020.
He should compete for a backup job behind Aidan Hutchinson, Charles Harris and Romeo Okwara with the Lions.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.