Lions sign UFL kicker Jake Bates after fourth-down disaster in NFC title game

The Lions have a new kicker. The United Football League’s Jake Bates signed a two-year contract with Detroit this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, bolstering the team’s kicking room. Bates played last season with the Michigan Panthers, making three field goals of 60-plus yards, including a game-clinching 64-yarder in March.Schefter reported that Bates opted to stay in the Wolverine State with the Lions after also visiting with the Packers and Commanders.After spending time as a kickoff specialist at Texas State and Arkansas, Bates played his first season as a field goal kicker in 2023, making 17 of 22 attempts.Bates adds to a Detroit roster that has 29-year-old veteran Michael Badgley and undrafted rookie James Turner, who kicked for Michigan in 2023. The Lions are hoping for a better season from their kicking corps in 2024. Badgley, who has bounced around the league in six NFL seasons, playing for the Lions, Bears, Titans, Colts and Chargers, made 24 of 28 field goal opportunities with a long of 53 yards last season.The question heading into the 2024 season will be how the head coach Dan Campbell will utilize his kickers on fourth down.Campbell, who is notorious for his aggressive approach, went for it on fourth down 34 percent of the time last season, which was more than any other team this century. The strategy came under the microscope during the 2023 NFC Championship game, when Campbell made the unusual decision to go for it on fourth down instead of letting Badgley kick a potential game-tying field goal with the Lions trailing 27-24 midway through the fourth quarter against the 49ers.Detroit would fail to convert, blowing the chance to even up the game and their shot at making the franchise’s first Super Bowl....