Bills Sign Two-Time Pro Bowl Kicker to Practice Squad
The Buffalo Bills made a big move just three days before their first game on Sunday Night Football versus the Ravens. The team announced that they are signing veteran kicker Matt Prater to their practice squad on Thursday afternoon. After signing with the Bills, Prater became the second-oldest active player on an NFL team. Prater just turned 41 years old on August 10th and is the only player younger than Aaron Rodgers, who signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers in June.
Prater came from humble beginnings to become one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. The Lions initially signed the undrafted kicker out of UCF, but couldn’t beat out veteran Jason Hanson, who finished his career as Detroit’s kicker for 20 seasons. Prater continued to bounce around, losing the job in Miami to Jay Feely and beating out Billy Cundiff in Atlanta, but got released and was replaced by Morten Andersen. He found his first full-time NFL home with Denver after they signed him off of the Dolphins’ practice squad, becoming the starter in 2008 until his four-game suspension and subsequent release in 2014. In 2013, Prater made history with the then-longest field goal in NFL history by making a 64-yard field goal against the Titans. Prater went to Detroit again and became one of the greatest kickers in the franchise as well. From 2014-20, Prater made 179 field goals while making 84.4% of his attempts, including 38 of them from 50-plus yards.
Though it would be a great story to see Prater come back to his old glory, this signing looks to be an insurance policy for Tyler Bass. Bass suffered a pelvic injury at a practice last month and was sidelined throughout the first two preseason games. The Bills signed Caden Davis, an undrafted rookie out of Ole Miss who was waived by the Jets before joining Buffalo. On August 20th, Davis was released, which appeared to be good news for Bass’ health, but apparently not. Prater hasn’t played since he suffered a torn meniscus in Week Five last season, leading to the Cardinals allowing his contract to expire, making him a free agent.
