Now that the Vikings have signed Joseph, what does it mean for Dan Bailey? [FranchiseTagged Preview]
Grant Seterstrom
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About a year ago, I wrote an article praising Dan Bailey for how well of a season he had. Yes, you read that right I PRAISED him and THANKED him. Although, you need to understand that in 2019 Bailey had one of his best seasons ever.
He had the fourth-highest field goal percentage in the league, with 93.1% of his kicks made and 91% of his extra points made. It was the first year since Blair Walsh’s rookie season that I can remember not having to look away from the TV every time there was a field goal attempt.
Unfortunately, I predicted the future jinx that my article would bring us…
I would like to apologize for the statements I made about Bailey last year. I accept any and all blame for his kicking woes this year. Please send your hate mail to me on Twitter: @GrantSeterstrom. What I have learned from this experience is to never praise a Vikings kicker because they will only break your heart.
On that note, the Vikings have signed kicker Greg Joseph. The news comes after Bailey had the second-lowest field goal percentage in the league at 68% and was last in extra points made at 86% this year, which are both career lows for him.
Joseph went to Florida Atlantic from 2014-2017, where he made 70% of his field-goal attempts. He joined the Cleveland Browns in 2018 and did much better, making 85% of his field-goal attempts in 14 games although Browns fans might have some foul memories about his time with them.
In 2019 Joseph went to the Tennessee Titans for two games in the playoffs, where he had no field goal attempts but was perfect on his extra-point attempts. Since then, Joseph was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad and is now a Super Bowl Champion.
From Joseph’s stats, you can see that he is still a risk to place as our starting kicker. It would be easy to say that they should have a preseason kicking battle to see who gets the starting spot, but $1.8 million of Dan Bailey’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains on the roster after the third day of the 2021 season start date.
Some might be thinking that we should just cut Bailey and take our chances, but ProFootballTalk reported that the Vikings special teams coach, Ryan Ficken, is very optimistic about Dan Bailey.
Ficken stated, “He’s one of the top kickers, so we’re very excited and fortunate that we have him on the Minnesota Vikings roster.”
As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and by signing a new kicker to the roster, Dan Bailey will most likely have to restructure his deal to battle for the starting spot in camp or have to be released.