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The Detroit Lions are signing Bengals kicker Randy Bullock, per NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero.
The #Lions are finalizing a deal with veteran kicker Randy Bullock that should be done tonight, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 18, 2021
So after losing Matt Prater to Arizona, Detroit moves quickly to replace him with Bullock, who spent the past four seasons in Cincinnati.
Bullock, a ninth-year player in 2021, originally joined the Bengals during the 2016 season. He was signed off waivers on December 13th of that year after the club released Mike Nugent.
Exactly four years to the date after he joined the team, Bullock essentially was booted off of it. Austin Siebert was promoted for the Bengals’ Week 14 game of the 2020 season against the Dallas Cowboys. Bullock was inactive for the remainder of the season.
Leading up to Bullock’s demotion was a season that featured just 21 of 26 field goals made, with two of his misses coming from inside 40 yards. Bullock managed to make three field goals of 50+ yards in 12 games last year, but it was his 31-yard shank in the final seconds of Week 1 that fans remember the most.
Bullock claimed to injure both of his calves right as he was kicking, and the team signed Siebert as an insurance policy in case Bullock ended up missing time. Eventually, Siebert straight up took his job after Bullock missed the final field goal of his Bengals career in Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins.
In his four years as the Bengals’ placekicker, Bullock made 90 of 106 field goals and 124 of his 130 extra point attempts. In Week 5 of last season, Bullock passed Shayne Graham as the most accurate kicker in team history at 87.1%. That percentage dropped to 84.9% by the time he was benched two months later.
Bullock, who turned 31 this past December, will get a chance to revive his career in Detroit while Siebert is penciled in as the Bengals’ next option going forward. Before the offseason concludes, expect the Bengals to add competition at the position.
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