The kicking game was an issue for the Vikings this season, and they’re getting out ahead of the matter by bringing in a veteran early. Minnesota is signing kicker Greg Joseph, his agent Brent Tessler announced on Twitter.
Since Joseph finished the season on the Buccaneers’ practice squad and not active roster, he doesn’t have to wait until March to sign like everybody else. Undrafted out of Florida Atlantic in 2018, he originally signed with the Dolphins. After getting cut by Miami he signed with the Browns, and spent the last 14 weeks of the 2018 season as Cleveland’s kicker. In those 14 games he went 17 of 20 on field goal attempts and 25 of 29 on extra points.
He lost the job the following training camp, spent some time on the Panthers’ practice squad, and then was signed by the Titans late in the year. He was their kicker for the final couple of regular season games as well as their playoff run to the AFC Championship Game.
He didn’t appear in a game for Tampa this year, but earned a Super Bowl ring nonetheless. The Vikings had Dan Bailey as their kicker this past season, and he was a disaster at times. He had a few meltdown games, including one against none other than the Bucs where he missed four kicks. Minnesota opted not to cut him during the season, but it was a foregone conclusion that he’d face some competition in 2021.
The Vikings guaranteed a portion of Joseph’s salary, while Bailey has $1.8MM that becomes fully guaranteed on March 19th, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bailey doesn’t even make it to camp and gets cut loose in the next couple of weeks here.