The Detroit Lions have made their first re-signing of the year on Thursday. They will be bringing back kicker Michael Badgley on a one-year contract.
I know a lot of Lions fans were hoping that the team would go out and find a new kicker for the 2024 season and this might look like they’re not going to do that, but this is the same thing they did last year. Badgley was re-signed by the Lions in March of last year. The Lions signed him to a one-year deal then too.
They would still go out and trade for Riley Patterson in May and sign Parker Romo in May as well. Despite the Lions signing Badgley, they still brought in two more guys and then wound up cutting Badgley. So there’s still a strong chance that they look to upgrade if they can.
The difference obviously is that the Lions wound up bringing Badgley back and having him be their kicker by the end of the year. They brought back Patterson too. So at this point, the kicker position is still up in the air. Even if it looks like the team has found their man.
Badgley went 4-4 in field goals during the regular season last year. The big highlight for him in 2023 was the 54-yard field goal he hit against the Rams in the wildcard round. We’ll see if he’s the kicker for the Lions come Week 1 of the 2024 season.