Last week the Bills had three kickers in for tryouts, but they did not sign any of them, Eddy Piñeiro, Zane Gonzalez and Greg Joseph.
They had the 41-year-old Prater in this week, and the 18-year veteran apparently impressed in his tryout. He has been a free agent since the Arizona Cardinals released him back in March.
During his career he has also kicked for the Falcons, Broncos and Lions and in 254 games he has made 407 of 487 field goal attempts (83.6%) and 587 of 603 extra points (97.3%). If Bass can’t play Sunday in the season opener against the Ravens, Prater will get elevated from the practice squad.
In another move, the Bills officially placed defensive tackle DeWayne Carter on the season-ending injured reserve list and they signed Sam Franklin to the 53-man roster. Prater took Franklin’s place on the practice squad.
Franklin was signed after roster cuts last week from the Carolina Panthers where he had previously played under new Bills special teams coach Chris Tabor. Franklin is a linebacker, but he will be a core special teams player for Buffalo this season.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
