INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts are signing former Saints kicker Blake Grupe to the practice squad to replace veteran kicker Michael Badgley, a league source confirms.
The Saints released Grupe last week in the middle of his third season with New Orleans, but the 27-year-old kicker is a veteran of three NFL seasons who already has familiarity with Indianapolis special teams coordinator Brian Mason, who coached Grupe at Notre Dame in his final collegiate season.
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Grupe made just 18 of 26 field goals for New Orleans this season, but he’d made all 15 extra points, the kick that led to Badgley’s release. Brought in to provide stability inside the 50-yard line, Badgley instead missed three extra points in seven games.
The Colts knew that any kicker they could sign at this point would come with risks.
“Any point in time you’re talking about evaluating kickers in Week 14 of the season, it’s certainly going to be complicated,” Mason said on Tuesday. “That’s just the situation we’re in. We’ve got to put ourselves in the best position to be successful, to find the person that we think is going to be able to convert scoring opportunities.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Blake Grupe signed by Colts to replace kicker Michael Badgley
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