Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman guarantees kicking competition despite not drafting a kicker
“I can guarantee you we’ll have a kicking competition,” Spielman said at the conclusion of the draft.
Minnesota signed Greg Joseph off Tampa Bay’s practice squad in February and released veteran kicker Dan Bailey a month later after he missed three kicks against Jacksonville in Week 13 and went 0-for-4 the following week in Tampa Bay. Bailey missed three more kicks in Weeks 16 and 17 and finished the season with 13 misses, the most in the NFL.
Last year’s training camp was the first time since 2016 that the Vikings did not have a kicking competition throughout the month of August.
For the first time since Spielman became the Vikings general manager in 2012, Minnesota did not have a seventh-round selection on Saturday and wrapped up the draft at pick No. 199 in the sixth.
It’s possible the team looks to college free agency to sign an undrafted kicker or brings a veteran in to compete later this offseason.