As expected, Jake Bates‘ UFL season has generated NFL interest. A number of teams are in on the recent spring/summer league specialist, whose previous NFL path did not include any game action.
The Michigan Panthers kicker has received interest from the Commanders, Lions, Packers and Ravens, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. All four teams have requested meetings with Bates, per Wilson, and ESPN.com’s John Keim notes the Commanders will be the first team to host the young specialist. That meeting is set for today.
Washington’s kicker need formed recently, after the team released offseason pickup Brandon McManus after a lawsuit alleging sexual assault emerged. The Commanders have already signed kicker Ramiz Ahmed, but the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala notes the team is looking to hold a competition between the recent signee and another option. The team also auditioned Andre Szmyt on Tuesday, per Jhabvala. Szmyt kicked for the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks this season.
With the UFL’s regular season ending, NFL teams are free to hold workouts. UFLers can be added next week, after the league’s weekend championship game. Considering the success the Cowboys have enjoyed with USFL players in recent years — including All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey, a summer 2023 addition — several of the new UFL’s top players will land opportunities to attend NFL training camps. Bates will almost definitely be one.
Bates, whom the Texans cut after barely a week during training camp last year, caught attention for making multiple 60-plus-yard field goals early this season. This included a 64-yarder. The long-range makes placed the Michigan kicker back on the NFL radar, and his second chance figures to feature a more thorough look. That said, Bates proved shakier down the stretch of the UFL season. He missed field goals five field goals over the Panthers’ final four games; that followed a two-miss performance in an April Michigan-Memphis matchup. Overall, Bates went 21-for-28 on field goals this season.
The Lions were connected to the in-state UFL team’s kicker early during the season, and the team used multiple kickers (Riley Patterson, Michael Badgley) in 2023. Detroit re-signed Badgley this offseason and added UDFA James Turner. But the team has been looking into adding another piece here, and Bates’ leg strength certainly caught attention.
Anders Carlson remains the frontrunner to kick for the Packers, but special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia mentioned a potential spring league addition (via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman) before training camp. Green Bay’s roster already houses two other kickers — Greg Joseph, Jack Podlesny — so a Bates addition would certainly be interesting from a roster-allocation standpoint ahead of training camp. Carlson went 27-for-33 last year but missed four extra points and then missed a kick in the Packers’ narrow divisional-round loss to the 49ers.
It would obviously surprise if Bates ended up in Baltimore, given that the Ravens employ arguably the best to ever do it. Justin Tucker is going into his 13th NFL season. Bates, 24, stands to land somewhere soon. His Houston work last summer does not make it a lock he will be one of the 32 kickers in Week 1, but the UFL work will give him a shot.
This is the one position I wish the lions could address Effectively.. I don’t know if Bates is the answer or if we could just call Baltimore And offer a stupid haul of picks for J.Tucker ..
In my whole heart I believe the lions would have won the Superbowl if MCDC knew on 4th down he could send in a Tucker and get 3 pts .. he looked and saw bad-gly and did what we all would have done .. went for it , repeatedly…
We all know Justin Tucker will wind up in the HOF but he struggled with long range FGs last season hitting on just 1 of 5. The Ravens are wisely looking at other options because the difference between having a top kicker and a bad kicker is a least 2 wins a season.
Terrible take.
Ravens are probably interested in hopes of repeating the Kaare Vedvik swindle.
After watching Bates the last few weeks of the season, I will take my chances with the Money Badger or Turner. He has a great leg but dude is shaky as hell in the clutch.
It’s all about consistency. You probably don’t lose your job if you miss a 60 yard attempt but when you start blowing those 30 yard FGs your time on the roster is near an end.
Considering he’s never had NFL coaching, or a NFL level long snapper/holder–which directly resulted in at least 3 or 4 of those recent misses–I absolutely think he’s worth a look, ESPECIALLY for a dome team like the Lions.
The fact that he just proved his ability to nail FG from 65 yards at the place he’d be playing 1/2 his games is icing on top of it all for the Lions