Vikings reveal if they're looking to sign another kicker this year

Kickers are a sore subject for most Minnesota Vikings fans, as many of the team's worst moments are tied to a missed kick in a critical situation.

Earlier this year, the Vikings made the decision not to re-sign Greg Joseph after he spent the last three seasons as the team's primary placekicker. In his place, Minnesota added John Parker Romo in free agency, a kicker who has never appeared in an NFL regular-season game.

Given Romo's NFL inexperience, some have wondered if the Vikings would bring in another kicker this offseason to compete for the starting job. Well, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell pretty much provided the answer to this question during his press conference earlier this week.

Minnesota Vikings expected to hold a kicking competition before the 2024 season

When taking questions from the local Twin Cities media on Monday, O'Connell had the following to say about what the Vikings are planning to do to determine who will be the team's kicker before the start of the 2024 season.

"We added Romo to the mix and, obviously, whether it is possibly a draft pick or post draft, that's a position where I look at it where we really want a competitive position."

It doesn't seem likely that Minnesota will add a new kicker to their roster before next week's 2024 NFL Draft. But based on what O'Connell said earlier this week, it's definitely possible that the Vikings could use one of their draft selections on a kicker this year or sign a kicker who ends up going undrafted next week.

Following the 2023 NFL Draft, Minnesota signed former Georgia kicker Jack Podlesny to compete with Joseph. A few months later, however, the Vikings waived Podlesny and stuck with Joseph as their kicker for the third year in a row.

If Minnesota doesn't add a rookie kicker to their roster in the near future, their other option is to add a veteran from the free agency pool. Guys like Randy Bullock and Brett Maher are currently still in need of an NFL team for the 2024 season.

Whatever the Vikings decide to do, at the very least, we know that Joseph is no longer going to be their kicker for the upcoming season, especially since he signed with the Green Bay Packers earlier this year.

Will Minnesota fans be happy with Romo or someone else as the team's new kicker, or will the franchise's rocky relationship with kickers just continue during the 2024 season?

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