Who is new Vikings kicker John Parker Romo?
Imagine the Vikings having a kicker who can drill a 73-yard field goal.
Actually, you don’t even have to imagine it. The Vikings are signing former XFL kicker John Parker Romo, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, and Romo recently showed off his leg on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, where he posted a video of him drilling a field goal from 73 yards with the wind at his back.
Romo, 26, returns to the NFL with the Vikings after short stints in the league with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. Romo went undrafted in 2022 after a college career that included stints at Central Arkansas, Tulsa and Virginia Tech.
In 2021 at Virginia Tech, Romo was 18 for 22 on his field-goal attempts with a long of 52 yards, and he was a perfect 34 for 34 on point-after-touchdown attempts.
More recently, Romo went 17 for 19 on field-goal attempts in the 2023 XFL season in which he was named to the All-XFL Team. He connected from 57 yards during the season, which at the time was the XFL record for longest field goal.
After his impressive season in the XFL, Romo got another NFL chance with the Lions in the preseason but was waived on Aug. 29. He then signed to the Bears practice squad on Aug. 31 before being released on Oct. 10.
Now Romo gets another shot in the NFL with the Vikings, who have yet to re-sign last year’s starting kicker, Greg Joseph. Joseph is officially due to be an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday and has yet to agree to terms with any NFL team.
It remains a possibility that the Vikings re-sign Joseph, and they’ve typically brought in kicking competition for the 30-year-old. While Joseph has had no shortage of big kicks in game-winning moments, most notably a 61-yarder to beat the New York Giants on Christmas Eve 2022, he’s also had no shortage of misses.
Joseph made just 7 of 13 field goals from 40+ yards last season and missed six extra points during the 2022 season. While he's made up for it with big kicks in clutch moments, the Vikings never appeared to have been sold on him, and perhaps are looking to go in a different direction in 2024. For now, the Vikings will see what Romo has to offer, and he appears excited for the opportunity.
“Good morning Minnesota,” he posted Tuesday on X with a teary-eyed emoji.
