When the Vikings pulled off a trade last weekend for Karee Vedvik from the Baltimore Ravens, the gut reaction was it seemed that Dan Bailey’s job was in jeopardy.
However, Vedvik has experience as both a kicker and a punter and now it seems he could end up pushing Matt Wile for the punting job.
It seems highly unlikely that he’ll end up with both jobs, so what exactly is Minnesota’s plan here?
Vedvik the kicker?
When you factor in the Vikings surrendered a fifth-round pick for a special teams player, you’d think that Vedvik would be the kicker considering that’s historically been a weaker position for Minnesota.
Vedvik has a monster leg. He drilled a 50-yard field goal earlier this preseason with Baltimore, and hit a couple from beyond 50 yards last preseason before was assaulted and spent the season on the non-contact injury list.
There was a time that Bailey was considered one of the most reliable kickers in the league but he seems to have fallen off from a promising start to his career when he was with the Cowboys.
So even though Vikings fans don’t want another situation like Carlson, Vedvik might end up earning more trust in training camp.
Vedvik the punter?
Vedvik focused on punting and kickoffs during Tuesday’s practice while Bailey handled kicking. Minnesota did not have practice Wednesday, so Thursday could be another telling day.
Bailey, meanwhile, drilled all seven of his field-goal attempts Tuesday, something he hadn’t done in training camp yet this year.
Meanwhile, Wile spent practice as a holder for Bailey’s field-goal attempts, according to the Star Tribune.
Vedvik doing both?
It’s extremely rare for NFL teams to have one person manning the kicking and punting responsibilities.
Mike Zimmer told reporters after Tuesday’s practice that he’s open to having Vedvik handle punting, kickoffs and even coming in for longer field-goal attempts.
As the preseason continues, we’ll likely figure out what Zimmer’s plan is for Vedvik. Minnesota’s next preseason game is Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Seattle Seahawks, and they’ll have two more games before the regular season opener against Atlanta Sept. 8.
Let’s assume Vedvik has the leg-up on the punting job, but what happens if he starts nailing field goals in preseason games and Bailey misses?
The Vikings have lacked a consistent kicking game since Ryan Longwell departed after 2011 season. If Vedvik ends up edging out Bailey for the kicking job, he’ll be the fifth kicker the Vikings have used in the past four seasons.
