Dan Bailey's worst season of his career has resulted in his release.
The Vikings cut the kicker on Tuesday, the team announced.
Bailey spent the last three seasons in Minnesota, where he was dependable for just one season: 2019. That year, Bailey made 93.1% of his field goal attempts and 90.9% of his extra points.
The other two campaigns were rather ugly. Bailey made 21 of 28 field goal attempts in 2018, and posted a career-low 68.2 field goal percentage in 2020, missing seven of his 22 field goal attempts. His difficult 2020 season included a disastrous two-week stretch in which he missed three kicks and needed an overtime chip shot to beat the lowly Jaguars, then missed four kicks -- including three field goals -- in a 12-point loss to the Buccaneers.
The dreadful performances left coach Mike Zimmer stating his team was "not really worried about feelings anymore," and followed suit with Bailey's Tuesday release.
The news shouldn't have been shocking to anyone who followed the Vikings in recent weeks, months or years. Bailey's struggles that saw him booted from Dallas followed him to Minnesota, and the money just didn't make sense to keep him any longer. Minnesota's signing of kicker Greg Joseph signaled an impending departure for the 33-year-old Bailey, who was scheduled to have $1.8 million of his $2.7 million 2021 base salary guaranteed on March 19.
The Vikings instead moved on, and it would be difficult to find anyone who would blame them for doing so. The kicker mill continues to churn.
