The Washington Commanders are signing veteran kicker Michael Badgley ahead of Commanders training camp, per Tom Pelissero.

Badgley played for the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears in 2022 and went 24/28 on field goal attempts and 33/33 on XP. The Lions unexpectedly released Badgley several days ago to clear a roster spot for WR Denzel Mims, who they acquired via trade from the New York Jets.

Badgley is mostly a reliable kicker, though he struggles from distance. He makes about 82% of his kicks and has never missed an extra point, but he’s just 5/13 from over 50 yards.

He will compete for the Commanders starting job with Joey Slye, who is similarly accurate, but has made 17 of 27 career long distance attempts. Slye was 25/30 on field goals for the Commanders last year in his first full season with the team. He did miss five extra points, however.

Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell likes Michael Badgley as a player, but Detroit will explore other kicking options.

“It was hard to let Badgley go. That was tough,” Campbell said. “I have a lot respect for Badge, but you know, we wanted to give another look at [Riley] Patterson. We feel like they’re very similar type players, Badgley and Patterson. We’ll get a look at Patterson.”

Also in that mix is former XFL kicker Parker Romo, who sports a much bigger leg. He made a 59-yard attempt for the San Antonio Brahmas last season.

“We like Romo. He’s kind of the wild card. He has the big leg,” Dan Campbell said. “There’s a level of development to him that needs to take place.

“So we just felt like between those two guys, let’s get a look at them and let them compete against each other. That’s why we did what we did.”