In his second stint with the Lions, Riley Patterson served as the team’s kicker for 13 games this season. The offseason trade acquisition made more than 88% of his field goal attempts, but the Lions are still moving on once again.
The Lions waived Patterson on Tuesday. This clears the path for Michael Badgley to take over. An internal competition will lead to Detroit making a full-on change. Dan Campbell said Patterson and Badgley had vied for the job over the past several weeks in practice. Despite Patterson remaining on Detroit’s active roster throughout this period, the Lions elevated Badgley to kick against the Broncos.
The job is now Badgley’s for good. Badgley operated as the Lions’ kicker to close last season. The team, however, swapped future seventh-round picks with the Jaguars to reacquire Patterson — a Lions kicker for seven games in 2021 — following Jacksonville’s Brandon McManus signing. Patterson now returns to the waiver wire.
Additionally, the Lions made the move to activate Hendon Hooker from their reserve/NFI list. Hooker suffered a torn ACL last November; the injury affected the Tennessee standout’s draft prospects. The Lions selected Hooker early in the third round but parked him on the NFI list. Tuesday’s activation will prevent Hooker’s rookie contract from tolling to 2027.
The Lions made the Patterson trade in May. Following a chain reaction that began with Sean Payton cutting McManus after a nine-season Broncos run, the Jags had discussed a trade with the Cowboys involving Patterson. But the Lions ended up sending a 2026 draft choice to reacquire the third-year specialist. The team used Badgley in 12 games last season and re-signed him on a practice squad deal after the Titans released him in August. Evidently impressive Badgley practice work will lead to the NFC North leaders shaking up their kicker situation.
Patterson has only attempted four field goals from beyond 40 yards this season; he is 3 of 4 on those kicks. Badgley was 9-for-11 from 40-49 yards last year and 2-for-3 from beyond 50. Patterson missed two PATs this season; Badgley did not miss an extra point last year with the Lions and was 6-for-6 in the team’s win over the Broncos on Saturday night.
This does mark an interesting switch for the Lions, who are on the verge of clinching their first division title in 30 years. The team initially cut Patterson to close out training camp in August 2022. Patterson ended up kicking throughout last season in Jacksonville. After the Lions went with Austin Seibert to start last season, they signed Badgley in early October. Badgley, 28, re-signed with Detroit in March but has been with three teams in 2023. Weeks after the Patterson trade, the Lions released Badgley, whom the Commanders and Titans subsequently cut. This complicated journey will lead him back into a role as the Lions’ primary kicker.
Hooker’s role suddenly looks clearer. The Lions are using Teddy Bridgewater as their backup quarterback this season, but the 31-year-old veteran is tied to a one-year contract. Bridgewater also announced over the weekend he plans to retire following the season. With Bridgewater planning to become a high school coach, the Lions have Hooker penciled in as Goff’s long-term backup.
The Lions have been cautious with Hooker, keeping him on the NFI list well into November and using his full activation window before moving him to the 53-man roster. Detroit now has three QBs on its 53-man roster and a fourth (David Blough) on its practice squad.
I really hope we can clinch the division by week 17 so the Lions can rest Goff and start HH. I think this kid can be special!
I HIGHLY doubt HH would start in the event we rest the VIPs in week 18. In the scenario rhe team would almost assuredly start Bridgewater to get him live game reps/refresher in case Goff goes down in the playoffs. Remember, Teddy joined the team late so he’s had very little to no live game action with Ragnow/the O line.
This move is simply about keeping Hooker engaged and practicing with the team, and giving them a more mobile option for the Scout team in the event of matchups against Dak or Hurts (and to lesser extent Geno Smith). If he was not activated to the roster Hooker would not have been able to even run the scout team–he wouldn’t have been allowed to practice in any team capacity at all.
MAYBE Hooker gets a 4th quarter in a “all the VIPs are resting” Game 17/Week 18, but he wouldn’t be the starter.
Unsure how the roster classification for injuries effects the rookie deal rolling into next year, but without and injury to Goff, or unless Bridgewater is cooked, wouldn’t it make sense to leave Hooker on reserve all season so as to keep him on the books via his rookie deal, for longer? If he eventually ends up taking Goff’s place as a starter, it would seem that an extra year making rookie deal money could give the team a lot of extra cap space to give him better protection/weapons for at least one season, or serve as an extra year to evaluate him before choosing whether or not to pursue a long-term arrangement.
I would assume there could be an NFLPA grievance filed on his behalf if he has been medically cleared to play, and the Lions kept him on IR. Doubt they would get that 2027 year either way.
Had no idea if that was something directly tied to medicals, or subject to the team’s own assessments since recovering from a major injury could be open for debate regarding “readiness”. That makes a lot of sense though, thanks for the clarity!
I’m not sure exactly how it works. Just seems unfair to the player, when they drafted him knowing he was hurt.
1.6m says he’s fine.
Interesting move
Having Hooker eligible to practice during playoffs and able to run the scout team with potential Hurts/Prescott matchups on the horizon is invaluable.
People think Bridgewater is some mobile QB but I think it’s the “All Black QBs are mobile” subconscious thinking of fans
[seriously, so many ppl on talk radio always call like “Goff can’t run why don’t we do a read option with Bridgewater at goal line?!?” LOL. Like Bridgewater was nearly as immobile as Goff BEFORE he nearly lost his leg. He’s not running anywhere!]
Anyway, I think it’s less to do with an NFLPA situation and more simply that having Hooker eligible to practice makes the team stronger and helps them prepare that little bit better.
And although I like Riley, and trust him as kicker, it’s obvious that Dan & Co. don’t. It does irritate me that we didn’t go out and get someone this offseason–I mean they know what these two kickers are, they were here last year, if you didn’t trust them then, and don’t trust them now, why are we still playing musical chairs with them? But on the (small) list of “things that Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have done I don’t like” it’s not exactly an all-CAPS Bold font issue
Fair enough
Goff put on notice