The Vikings Add Some Kicking Competition
Josh Frey
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After an extremely up-and-down season from Dan Bailey in 2020, the Minnesota Vikings went into the 2021 offseason in need of a kicker. After hitting a few snags early in the actual 2021 season, including the missed kick that would have been a game-winner in Arizona, Greg Joseph largely answered the bell for the Vikings in this arena. He nailed 33/38 field goals (including 14/18 from 40+ yards) along with 36/40 XPs. Even still, it appears that the Vikings will be bringing in some kicking competition to training camp this year. That competition comes in the form of Oklahoma UDFA, Gabe Brkic.
Brkic’s resume is one of extremely impressive stature as far as kickers go. As a Sooner, he hit 57 of his 69 attempts, good for an 82.6% clip. He also missed just one extra-point attempt throughout his three-year career, going 159/160 (99.4%). That’s about as automatic as it gets.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1006290″ player=”26281″ title=”WATCH%20Projecting%20NFL%20free%20agent%20landing%20spots%20for%20best%20remaining%20players” duration=”146″ description=”The 2022 offseason has brought more change than anyone expected. From franchise quarterbacks switching teams to the game’s very best receivers landing record-breaking contracts, we’ve now seen it all. Yet there are still many impact players left on the market, with several teams having more than enough cap space to get involved. Since there are still many high-profile names available in free agency, we figured we’d take a crack at projecting the remaining free agent landing spots for the 2022 season.” uploaddate=”2022-05-04″ thumbnailurl=”undefined” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/1006120/1006120.m3u8″ width=”16″ height=”9″]
Some of these field goals that Brkic hit weren’t exactly “gimme’s” either. His power is certainly enough to hit kicks upwards of 60 yards. This is evidenced in part by a pair of 56-yarders that he crushed against Tulane this past season. Joseph’s season-high with the Vikings last year was 55 yards.
Of course, Joseph recently signed a tender of $2.433 million to remain with the Vikings in 2023. However, none of that is guaranteed at this point. If Brkic were to beat out the Vikings incumbent during training camp, Minnesota would not owe him anything.
In essence, nothing but positives can come out of this kicker competition. Either Joseph continues the tear that he closed the 2021 season with, or Minnesota finds themselves a new kicker that will be even cheaper. The deal is being reported as a three-year contract, a rather lengthy deal for any UDFA, let alone a kicker. It seems that the Vikings have a suspicion that he could win this position.
What this does mean, per Chris Tomasson, is that the Vikings currently have 91 players on their roster. The rookie mini-camp limit is 90, so Minnesota is not done making moves. Someone will have to be cut by the time May 13th rolls around.
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