A week ago, Riley Patterson appeared to have the Commanders’ kicking job locked up, as the only kicker on the roster. Now? Not.
Patterson missed two field goals in last week’s preseason game, and Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said on Monday that the team still needs to figure out who its kicker is going to be.
“The competition for us at that spot is not settled, by any stretch,” Quinn said.
Quinn indicated that the Commanders will wait and see which kickers are available on waivers or free agency after all NFL teams reduce their rosters from 90 to 53 players on August 27. The Commanders, who have the No. 2 priority in the waiver order, appear likely to claim a kicker and hand him the job, with Patterson likely on the way out.
The Commanders thought they had solved their kicking problem when they signed Brandon McManus this offseason, handing him a $1.5 million signing bonus to play in Washington. But when McManus was accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit, the Commanders cut him. That left them scrambling to find a replacement, and Patterson hasn’t proven to be up to the task.
The kicking job in Washington remains a work in progress.