6 free agents who should be on the Vikings wish list for 2024

Free Agent No. 2

Ka'imi Fairbairn - K

2023 Team: Houston Texans

Behind figuring out who their quarterback is going to be for the 2024 campaign, a new kicker is arguably one of the Vikings' biggest needs this offseason.

Greg Joseph has held down the job for the last three years, and he has not been good at all.

After Joseph's 78.8 percent field-goal conversion rate ranked 28th in the NFL in 2022, he followed it up this past season with an 80 percent field-goal conversion rate, which also ranked 28th in the league among qualifying kickers.

When Minnesota has trotted him out on the field in the last two seasons to attempt a field goal from 40 yards away or further, he's only converted on 58.1 percent of his tries. That is just an atrocious number, and it's actually incredible that he has been able to remain with the Vikings for as long as he has.

The bottom line is that Minnesota needs a new kicker for the 2024 season, and a very good one is expected to be available in free agency this year by the name of Ka'imi Fairbairn.

With the Texans in 2023, Fairbairn missed one (one!) of his 28 field-goal attempts. The 30-year-old kicker has nailed 94.9 percent of his kicks in the last two seasons, and when it has come to his attempts from 40 yards away or further, he's made 91.7 percent of these kicks.

Fairbairn is lightyears above Joseph in just about everything, and with the number of close games the Vikings have played since Kevin O'Connell was hired to be their head coach, having a reliable kicker is an absolute necessity.