The Detroit Lions are shaking up their special teams, parting ways with a rookie kicker who just weeks ago was predicted to earn the starting job and replacing him with a UFL standout.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on June 18, the Lions added UFL kicker Jake Bates, signing him to a two-year deal worth $1.98 million. The contract included $150,000 in guaranteed money and a $100,000 signing bonus, a commitment that puts the former Michigan Panthers kicker in the running for the starting job.
The Lions also announced that they released rookie kicker James Turner, who many believed was leading the competition for the kicking job through the team’s early practices.
Rookie Kicker Impressed This Offseason
The Lions made efforts to bring in competition for incumbent kicker Michael Badgley, who spent most of last season on the practice squad behind kicker Riley Patterson. After Patterson missed two extra points in three games, the Lions switched to Badgley and later rewarded him with a new one-year contract in February.
The Lions also brought in Turner to compete for the job, and Mike Moraitis of The Sporting News predicted that the rookie would end up winning the job based on his stronger performances at practice.
“Things have heated up in the kicker competition after Turner got the best of Michael Badgley during one of the sessions,” Moraitis wrote on June 11. “By all accounts, we haven’t seen Badgley get the better of the rookie yet, so the Michigan product is in a great position to grab the job ahead of training camp.”
But Turner didn’t make it to training camp, being released in order to make room on the roster for Bates.
Jake Bates Earned Buzz in UFL
As Joseph Buczek of CBS Detroit noted, Bates earned some buzz for a big performance in the home of the Lions earlier this spring. The former Arkansas kicker nailed a 64-yard field goal at Ford Field in his team’s Week 1 win over the St. Louis Battlehawks. He made 21 of 28 attempts for the Panthers on the season, including three from 60 yards or beyond.
Always believe. And we believe in Jake Bates 🙌
— Michigan Panthers (@USFLPanthers) June 18, 2024
Detroit stays home for @jakebates30 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ZJp6uGI8kw
As Buczek noted, Bates had a winding path to the NFL.
“An undrafted free agent out of Arkansas, Bates was a collegiate soccer player at Central Arkansas, playing two seasons in 2018 and 2019 before transferring to Texas State in 2020 to play football as a kickoff specialist and later to Arkansas in 2022,” Buczek wrote.
“Bates was signed by the Houston Texans in July 2023 but was released a few weeks later. He later signed with the Panthers in December 2023.”
Special teams coach Dave Fipp said it would be an open competition with performance both in game situations and practice playing into the final decision.
“The way that I handle those decisions, I mean, my job is to really have the best interest of the whole team in mind, or the whole locker room and all those players sitting in that meeting, and it’s not just one person,” Fipp said, via SI.com. “It’s really, I have a responsibility to be fair to all them by playing whoever we think is the best player. And, with a kicker, it’s pretty clear. I mean, makes and misses and percentages. And, I do think that practice matters, and I do think that players trend towards what their practice stuff is.”
