Joseph had some up and down times in Minnesota, but overall, he was relatively consistent. He finished his Vikings tenure with an 82.2% field goal percentage and a 90.3% extra points made percentage.

Although Joseph was consistent, he wasn’t a game changing kicker. He had his strengths, but he also had critical weaknesses. The Vikings ultimately saw that he hit his ceiling and wanted to upgrade at that position.

John Parker Romo (XFL)

Parker Romo was the first new kicker to enter the covenant this offseason. The Vikings signed free agent Parker Romo in March 2024, who recently played for the San Antonio Brahmas in the 2023 XFL season.

He has yet to kick in a regular season game in the NFL, but he put up some decent numbers in the 2023 XFL season. Parker Romo finished with a 89.5% field goal percentage, with a long of 57 yards.

A look at #Vikings new K John Parker Romo. He has not attempted a kick in a regular season #NFL game.
🏈2023 (XFL):
💥17/19 (89.5%)
💥6/6 (20-29 yds)
💥2/3 (30-39 yds)
💥7/7 (40-49 yds)
💥2/3 (50-59 yds)
💥57 yards (longest)

🏈2021 (CFB – VT)
💥34/34 XPs

📸: @247Sports pic.twitter.com/qdkzUGeixK

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) March 12, 2024

Overall, he’s got a big leg and has experience playing in the XFL. Remember, the NFL has now changed the way it does kickoffs as they adopted the kickoff format of the XFL. This could be an added bonus for the Vikings this upcoming season.

Will Reichard (Alabama)

The other new kicker Kwesi acquired, Will Reichard, joined the Minnesota Vikings in April when he was selected in the sixth-round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He played five seasons for the University of Alabama and finished as the NCAA all-time leading scorer. Quite the accomplishment, eh? The Vikings’ GM clearly thinks so.

With the 203rd pick, then #Vikings draft a Kicker!

Will Reichard out of Alabama!

Reichard is the NCAA all time leading scorer pic.twitter.com/AqRNQarzHb

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) April 27, 2024

In 2023, Reichard finished with an 88.0% field goal percentage, including 5-for-5 showing from 50-plus yards. He was also perfect on 55 extra point attempts (which are a lot closer than they are in the NFL).

Related: Did the Vikings Tip Their Hand on Which UDFAs Will Make the Roster?

He doesn’t have quite the leg that John Parker Romo does, but Reichard is accurate, effective and has a big enough leg to go 10/10 from 50+ in college. That’s why he was on draft radars, which is not a common thing in today’s NFL Draft era.

Who’s Winning the Minnesota Vikings Kicker Battle?

So, with months remaining between now and the start of the 2024 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings’ kicker battle has only begun, right. Well, that’s the idea. But is it actually a true kicking battle? If you watch the behind the scenes video of Kwesi pursuing Reichard on Day 3 last month, you might not think so.

Analyzing #Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in this… there’s ZERO chance Will Reichard is losing the kicking battle to John Parker Romo 👀pic.twitter.com/ZPqQ4lStvC

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 22, 2024

In a draft day behind the scenes video, posted by the official Minnesota Vikings social media account, Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah seems enamored with Will Reichard. Going as far as consulting with Head Coach Kevin O’Connell on why they should take Reichard before Michael Jurgens. He refers to Will Reichard as “the kicker” over and over and over during the video.

“If the kicker and Jurgens are there, do you go kicker, assuming Jurgens might be there later? Because the kicker is supposed to be gone by now.”

“It’s more about trying to get both players, who do you have to take sooner? . I think the kicker will go sooner than Jurgens. I mean, we have our targets. We do all this work for this. Let’s get our targets that we want.”

Minnesota Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah making sure he gets Alabama kicker Will Reichard.

It’s pretty clear in the video that Adofo-Mensah was locked in on drafting Reichard. As mentioned earlier, it’s not very common for an NFL team to spend draft capital selecting a kicker in the NFL Draft.

Related: Will Justin Jefferson Show Up For Any Minnesota Vikings Offseason Workouts?

With the way Adofo-Mensah spoke about Reichard and the draft capital invested in him, it seems to me like Reichard is the favorite to win the Vikings kicking battle. In the end, we’ll find out officially in the coming months.

Dan Bailey cost the Minnesota Vikings 10 points on Sunday afternoon. His kicking, combined with terrible 1st half playcalling and an NFL agenda carried out by their referees, cost the Vikings a huge win vs Tom Brady and the Bucs.

Bailey missed three field goals and an extra point. He kicked the ball four times and not one went through the uprights. Today’s missed kicks made for SEVEN total misses in the last two games. The mind of an NFL kicker continues to astound Vikings coaches and fans.

Bailey has been a top-tier kicker in the NFL for nearly a decade. But now, he’s facing a possible meeting with free agency, which would mean the Vikings could be again looking for a kicker. Unfortunately, Kai Forbath is kicking game-winning field goals in Washington and Daniel Carlson is killing it in Las Vegas.

So who is available for the taking?

Top free agent kickers

Finding a list of NFL free agents is more difficult than I imagined it would be but I was able to find a “top free agent kicker” list from former NFL kicker, Nick Novak’s instagram account.

Blair Walsh…

Anyone up for a Blair Walsh reunion? If so, he’s one of the top-available options. I doubt the Vikings go this route and I think fans would take another chance at Dan Bailey redemption, than they would Walsh. Blair worked out for the Titans in November.

Georgio Tavvechio

Georgio Tavvechio started this year on the Atlanta Falcons roster but never made it out of training camp. He does have some NFL experience but you have to go back to 2018 to find it. Tavvechio worked out for the Giants and the Titans in November.

Ali Mourtada

This is my pick. Ali Mourtada is another Nick Novak guy and he has video on instagram where he’s kicking absolute bombs. He looks like a guy with some confidence too.

Mourtada is 30 years old and hasn’t kicked in a real football game anytime recently but who cares. He’s clearly still training and looking for his shot. Why not give it to him? What do the Vikings have to lose?

You can see all of the kickers Nick Novak has been working out HERE.

Practice Squad Kickers

Kickers are rotating through NFL practice squads this year like shoppers through a turnstile on black friday. Teams can technically sign players off of each other’s practice squad as long as they are willing to have them on the NFL roster for a minimum 3 weeks.

It’s difficult to even find up-to-date practice squad rosters but there are some names you might know… including a kicker on the Minnesota Vikings’ own practice squad.

Tristan Vizcaino (Vikings PS)

The Vikings signed Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad in November and now he’ll probably have an opportunity to earn a starting spot. He’s only 24 years old. I know nothing about him but here he is drilling a 57-yarder in the 2019 preseason.

Here’s #Vikings practice squad kicker Tristan Vizcaino drilling a 57-yard field goal in the 2019 preseason.

I’d imagine the Vikings will bring in several kickers this week, but Vizcaino is the main name to know. pic.twitter.com/THJfSqAgTA

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) December 13, 2020

Kaare Vedvik (WFT PS)

Yup, the guy the Vikings panic-traded for a couple of years ago still exists. Currently (according to OurLads.com), Vedvik is on the Washington Football Team practice squad.

Sam Sloman (Titans PS)

Sam Sloman was a rookie kicker for the Rams before he started sucking and Kai Forbath was called in. After some time in the free agent pool, Sloman now sits on the Titans practice squad.

Here is the list of practice squad players (according to OurLads.com)

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan