The Fate of Jake Bates Hangs in Balance: Lions Meets With Potential Replacements, Sparking Quarterback Controversy
Easily one of the Detroit Lions’ best stories of 2024. This kid who never really got a chance in the NFL and hadn’t kicked a field goal since high school comes out of nowhere and boots a 64-yard field goal at Ford Field to give the Michigan Panthers a win in the UFL.
It took the world by storm there for a minute and all Lions fans wanted was for Bates to stay in Detroit and play for their team. At first, there were some struggles at camp, but then Bates absolutely took off. He had a killer rookie season and it’s going to be great to see where things go from here.
With that said, Lions general manager Brad Holmes started the season by saying the team was going to look for competition for Bates and as the draft process has begun, the Lions have also begun looking for and talking to kickers.
This past week the Lions had a meeting with Miami kicker Andres Borregales during Shrine Bowl week.
Of course, this does not mean the Lions are going to draft a kicker. It doesn’t really mean anyone is going to draft a kicker. But it does mean that the Lions fully intend to keep an eye out for kickers and you can pretty much guarantee there will be an extra one or two on the roster when training camp starts.
It’s Jake Bates‘ job for sure, but in a league where finding a kicker has become one of the hardest things to do, having a good backup is something teams need to take seriously if they’re able to pull it off. We’ll see this summer who the extra guy is going to be.
