Former Detroit Lions kicker and two-time Pro Bowler Matt Prater has signed with the Buffalo Bills practice squad, the team announced on Thursday.
Prater, 41, is coming off a torn meniscus in his plant leg he suffered ahead of Week 5 last season that ended his run with the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2013 Second-Team All-Pro spent the better part of seven seasons as the Lions’ kicker from 2014-2020 and ranks 15th on the NFL’s all-time scoring list with 1,808 points.
The UCF product initially signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent in 2006, but didn’t beat out veteran Jason Hanson for the starting job in preseason and began auditioning for more teams.
He finally became a starter in 2008 with the Denver Broncos and he’d become one of the best kickers in the league, highlighted by a 2013 season where he made 25-of-26 field goals — including an NFL-record 64 yarder that held the top mark until 2021 — and made all 75 of his extra-point attempts.
Following a four-game suspension in 2014 after violating the NFL’s substance-abuse program, Prater was released by Denver and signed with the Lions.
Prater played 107 games for the Lions, making 179-of-212 field-goal attempts and 231-of-241 extra-point tries, while earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2016.
In 2021, Prater signed with the Cardinals, where he held the top kicker spot until his injury. This is Prater’s first time on a practice squad since 2007.
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