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Detroit Lions re-sign kicker Michael Badgley to 1-year deal

Dan Campbell passed on two long field goal attempts in the second half of the Detroit Lions' NFC championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but it wasn't because of a lack of faith in kicker Michael Badgley.

The Lions re-signed Badgley to a one-year deal Thursday, his agent, Brian McLaughlin, told the Free Press.

Detroit Lions place kicker Michael Badgley attempts and makes a 54-yard field goal against the L.A. Rams during the second half of the NFC wild-card game at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan, 14, 2024.
Detroit Lions place kicker Michael Badgley attempts and makes a 54-yard field goal against the L.A. Rams during the second half of the NFC wild-card game at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan, 14, 2024.

Badgley, who was set to be an unrestricted free agent March 13, has kicked parts of the past two seasons with the Lions and was a perfect 3 of 3 on field goals in the postseason this year. He made a 54-yarder in the Lions' wild-card win over the Los Angeles Rams and hit a 21-yarder late in the first half against the 49ers.

The Lions went for it on fourth down twice in the second half rather than send Badgley out for kicks of 46 and 48 yards, and failed to convert both times in a 34-31 defeat.

Campbell explained after the game he was trying "to get the upper hand back" after the 49ers had rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit.

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"It’s easy hindsight and I get it," he said. "I get that. But I don’t regret those decisions and that’s hard. That’s hard, because they didn’t, we didn’t come through, it wasn’t able to work out, but I don’t. I don’t. And I understand the scrutiny I’ll get, that’s part of the gig, but we just – it just didn’t work out."

Badgley signed with the Lions early in the 2022 season and made 20 of 24 field goals with a long of 53 yards. He spent most of last season on the practice squad before the Lions made a kicking change late in the year, cutting Riley Patterson to give Badgley the job.

Badgley made all four of his field goals in four regular season games last year.

The Lions have employed a rotating cast of kickers for most of Campbell's tenure as head coach. Badgley has been accurate from short distance, but has attempted just five kicks of 50-plus yards, including the playoffs, while playing for four teams over the past four seasons.

The Lions are expected to bring in competition for Badgley this spring.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions re-sign kicker Michael Badgley to 1-year deal