Michigan kicker James Turner was claimed off waivers after the Lions cut him earlier this week.
The Detroit Lions waived undrafted rookie kicker James Turner on Tuesday, but they may see him again soon. On Thursday, the Green Bay Packers were awarded Turner after putting in a claim for him on waivers, according to the official transaction wire. Currently, waiver wire priority is determined from last year’s results, so Green Bay had 25th priority—meaning at least 24 teams passed on Turner.
Detroit opted to cut Turner after they were able to sign former Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates following his impressive season in the UFL. The Packers were one of the teams who were reportedly interested in signing Bates, so it’s not surprising to see them essentially get a second-hand kicker, instead.
That said, Turner certainly showed some promise while with the Lions during OTAs and minicamp. The former Michigan Wolverine flashed his leg strength by making a handful of kicks from 55-60 yards with extra room to spare. Turner is set to compete in Green Bay with veteran Greg Joseph and Anders Carlson
The Lions will enter training camp with Bates contending with last year’s kicker Michael Badgley for the starting job. Earlier this week, we did a roundtable discussion debating who we think will win the competition . In short, Bates may have a much higher ceiling, but with no college or high school experience kicking field goals, he is the bigger wild card. Meanwhile, Badgley has made 24-of-28 kicks with the Lions over the past two seasons, and has an 82.4 percent accuracy mark over his six-year NFL career, including 56-of-58 on field goals 39 yards or shorter.