Lions bring back kicker Riley Patterson in trade with the Jaguars

And now there are three, as the Detroit Lions have brought back kicker Riley Patterson via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Up until rookie minicamp, Michael Badgley was the only kicker on the Detroit Lions roster. Then John Parker Romo was signed off a rookie minicamp tryout after a good season in the XFL. And on Thursday, the Lions acquired Riley Patterson from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a draft pick.

First reported as an undisclosed draft pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported it'll be a conditional seventh-round pick in 2026 going to Jacksonville in the deal.

After announcing the signing former Broncos kicker Brandon McManus on Thursday, the Jaguars were set to waive Patterson. But instead, they'll possibly recoup a draft pick three years from now. Presumaby on the condition Patterson wins the kicking job for the Lions this summer.

Last season for the Jaguars, Patterson went 30-for-35 on field goals and 36-for-37 on extra points. In the postseason he went 7-for-7 on his kicks, including the game-winning field goal to complete the Wild Card Round comeback over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Lions add familiar face to kicking competition in Riley Patterson

Somewhat similarly to what Badgley did last year, Patterson haulted a kicker turnstile for the Lions in 2021. Over the final seven games that season, he went 13-for-14 on field goals (the miss was a 55-yarder) and 16-for-16 on extra points.

Patterson lost a 2022 training camp battle with Austin Seibert, joining the Jaguars after being waived by the Lions. Rather than making a likely unsuccessful waiver claim to try to bring him back now, they made a trade. In a corresponding move to keep the roster at the maximum 90 players, the Lions waived undrafted rookie wide receiver Keytaon Thompson.

So mere hours after special teams coordinator Dave Fipp expressed confidence in Badgley and Romo, apparently to the point of giving a strong impression no outside options were being looked at, the Lions have a three-man kicking competition. How long it remains a three-man competition is the next question about the kicking situation in Detroit.