Who Should I Start? Michael Badgley or Joey Slye

Tuesday, March 4, 3:15 PM

The Detroit Lions recently cleared veteran kicker Michael Badgley (groin) from the torn groin that kept him out for all of last season, a source tells NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. While Badgley has made a full recovery, he's now set to become a free agent next week. With the 29-year-old out of commission all year, Jake Bates served as Detroit's regular kicker and was very reliable, missing only three of his 29 field-goal attempts in 17 regular-season games while missing three of his 67 extra-point attempts in his first year in the league. Because of how good Bates looked in 2024, it's likely that the Lions will let Badgley walk in free agency as he heads into his eighth year in the NFL. Badgley has a career 82.4 percent success rate on 119 field-goal attempts in 64 games played. In four games with Detroit in 2023, he made all four of his FGs and went 13-for-15 on extra points.

Monday, March 24, 1:04 PM

The Tennessee Titans signed former New England Patriots and Washington Commanders kicker Joey Slye to an undisclosed deal on Monday, according to agent Glenn Schwartzman. Slye signed with the Patriots last year and beat out Chad Ryland for kicking duties. The 28-year-old then went 26-for-33 on his field-goal attempts (6-for-9 from 50-plus yards) and 25-for-26 on his extra-point tries in 17 games played. The Titans will be the sixth team that Slye has kicked for in his NFL career after going undrafted out of Virginia Tech in 2018. He has a career 81.7 percent success rate on his field-goal attempts in 95 games played. He's currently the only kicker on Tennessee's roster, but it wouldn't be a surprise for the Titans to bring in competition for training camp this summer. Slye is unlikely to be much of a fantasy option in 12-team leagues this fall.