Who Should I Start? Michael Badgley or Tanner Brown

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.

Tuesday, September 17, 2:58 PM

The Los Angeles Rams signed kicker Tanner Browns to the practice squad on Tuesday, according to NFL.com. The 24-year-old went unselected in last year's NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State and has been on and off the L.A. roster since signing with the organization after the draft. Starting kicker Joshua Karty has made all three of his field goal attempts and all three of his extra-point tries to begin the year, so it's unclear whether Brown will be given a chance to earn the starting role. Either way, the Rams offense is likely to struggle with Puka Nacua (knee), Cooper Kupp (foot), and several offensive linemen on the shelf, so he would not be an attractive fantasy kicker option if he plays anytime soon.