12:02 pm | September 17, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings have cut ties with kicker Daniel Carlson one day after he went 0-for-3 on field goals against Green Bay, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. Minnesota is replacing the rookie with veteran kicker Dan Bailey, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Vikings also announced the signing of wide receiver Aldrick Robinson, whom Minnesota brought in for a workout on Sept. 7.
Carlson missed field goals from 48, 49 and 35 yards out in the Vikings’ 29-29 overtime tie against the Packers. After his first field goal attempt in OT sailed wide right, Minnesota went back to Carlson to kick a 35-yard would-be game-winner.
“You know what, guys are supposed to do their jobs,” coach Mike Zimmer said Sunday. “Maybe we should’ve thrown a ball into the end zone a couple of times at the end, but I believed that the guy was going to make the kick. He said to put it in the middle of the field and I put it dead smack in the middle and in practice every day, he drills them. So that’s the disappointing thing for me. We come out here and we do that. We almost had a punt blocked last week and we didn’t and we got one this week. We’re going to be cranking on special teams good now.”
Carlson lamented postgame that nerves likely played a role in missing his final kick.
“It feels terrible. Obviously I let my team down,” Carlson said. “That last one was probably more just confidence after missing twice early. That’s frustrating. That shorter one I should never miss like that.”
Minnesota traded up into the fifth round of the draft to select Carlson with the 167th pick in April, giving up two draft picks in the process. He was the highest drafted kicker in team history. The rookie competed with former Vikings kicker Kai Forbath during the spring offseason and throughout the first two weeks of training camp. The kicking competition effectively ended on Aug. 20 when Minnesota released Forbath after two seasons.
Four days later, Carlson missed two field goals during the Vikings’ preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, Zimmer opted to go for a two-point conversion early in the second quarter to send a message to Carlson after he missed a field goal from 42 yards out.
“Just let him (Carlson) know that if he’s going to miss them (field goals), I’m going to go for two,” Zimmer said in August.
Bailey, the second most-accurate kicker in NFL history, was released by the Cowboys during roster cuts. Dallas opted to stick with Brett Maher, who had never kicked in a regular season NFL game.
Bailey made 91.2 percent of his kicks in indoor/domed stadiums and has never missed a point after attempt in 145 tries. He was with Dallas from 2011-18.
Robinson, a seventh-year veteran, was released by San Francisco after joining the 49ers as a free agent in 2017. He was drafted in the sixth round in 2011 by Washington and totaled 69 catches for 1,191 yards and nine touchdowns in 68 games with the Redskins, Ravens, Falcons and Niners.
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