The kicking situation was so bad that the Detroit Lions punted on the position, at least when it came to setting their initial 53-man roster.
The Lions released kickers Randy Bullock and Zane Gonzalez on Tuesday, leaving them with no kickers currently under contract.
Both Bullock and Gonzalez, who signed in mid-August, struggled during training camp practices, and the Lions now will look for a replacement on the waiver wire.
Rookie Jake Verity, who was waived by the Baltimore Ravens, and veteran Michael Badgley, who was cut by the Los Angeles Chargers, are two possibilities.
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The Lions, who have experienced extreme stability at the kicker position for most of the past four decades — Eddie Murray, Jason Hanson and Matt Prater held the job for 40 of the past 41 years — are expected to be active churning the back end of their roster at positions other than kicker when waiver claims are awarded Wednesday.
They have just two tight ends and eight offensive linemen currently on their roster, but will re-sign some of Tuesday’s cuts to the practice squad.
“I think what needs to be remembered here is (just because a player makes the initial 53-man roster) does not mean that this is who we’re riding with all the way through the season,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday. “There’s going to be some guys that are going to be on our team that aren’t even in the building yet. That’s probably going to happen. There’s a good chance that can happen.”
The Lions made 20 moves in all Tuesday, cutting 18 players, placing Jashon Cornell on the reserve/suspended list and trading for receiver Trinity Benson. They will free up an addition roster spot Wednesday when they place quarterback Tim Boyle (broken thumb) on injured reserve.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions cut both kickers to set initial 53-man roster