4 Detroit Lions players who could be cut before playing a snap for the team in 2023

4. PK Michael Badgley

Badgley lingered through the brunt of the offseason as the only kicker the Lions had on the roster. And it was not for lack of possible options. Then they signed All-XFL kicker John Parker Romo after a rookie minicamp tryout, and more recently they brought back Riley Patterson in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Three will eventually be a crowd in the kicker competition. But for some reason the Lions felt the need to make a trade for Patterson (even only for a conditional draft pick) rather than go another direction for a third kicker to be an OTA/camp leg.

Reports out of OTA practice on Thursday of this week, for what it's worth, reflect Romo gaining a leg up in the kicker competition. He has the strongest leg of the three competitors without a doubt, and if he wins the job the Lions could take punterJack Fox off of kickoff duties. The Lions could very well value that last part, even just as a possibility to have/consider, highly.

Patterson lost the kicker competition to Austin Seibert in Lions training camp last year, which invites the question of why he was brought back. He's almost a lock to be cut, while Badgley is less likely based on having a track record no other current Lions kicker has.

Whether Romo is the upgrade over the Lions end up with or not, Badgley is on thinning ice to make it to Week 1 with the job he held down for a big chunk of last year.