Following their short-lived partnership with Brandon McManus, the Commanders are turning to another recent Jaguars kicker. Washington submitted a successful waiver claim for Riley Patterson on Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets.
Patterson, who has enjoyed multiple stints with Jacksonville, will head to a Washington team that features kicker uncertainty after McManus’ release. Patterson has kicked in 39 career games; 15 of those came last season — with the Lions and Browns.
Entering Wednesday, Ramiz Ahmed resided as the only kicker on the Commanders’ 90-man roster. Ahmed has kicked in one career game — as a Packers Mason Crosby fill-in in 2022. Patterson, who turned 29 last week, landed with the Jags via reserve/futures contract but lost an early camp competition to sixth-round rookie Cam Little.
The Commanders released McManus after a lawsuit alleging sexual assault surfaced after the team signed him. The allegations stemmed from a flight during the 2023 Jaguars season. Washington had given the longtime Denver specialist a one-year, $3.6MM deal in March. Ahmed joined the team in June, shortly after the McManus cut. The inexperienced option now has competition.
Patterson has yo-yoed between Jacksonville and Detroit during his career, being both traded and waived. After seven games with the 2021 Lions, Patterson was the Jags’ 2022 kicker. The Jaguars claimed Patterson just before that season; he made 30 of 35 field goals during the regular season and kicked the game-winner that sealed a 27-point wild-card comeback over the Chargers. Last season, after the Jags traded Patterson back to the Lions, the Memphis alum made 88.2% of his tries but lost an ongoing practice competition to Michael Badgley. The Lions ended up going with Badgley and cutting Patterson in December, leading him to a short role filling in for Dustin Hopkins.
Joey Slye served as the Commanders’ kicker last season, but the ex-Ron Rivera Panthers charge made only 79.2% of his kicks. The team will see if Patterson or Ahmed can prove an adequate replacement.
The Commanders, who also signed Byron Pringle earlier today, released wideout Damiere Byrd and waived wideout Dax Milne. Byrd had played for Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona previously, while Milne has been in Washington since being drafted in the 2021 seventh round.
Smart move by WAS.
Riley has been perfect in the playoffs…but how likely are the Commanders to get that far this season?