Inside The Vikings

Jaguars Poach Kicker Chase McLaughlin Off Vikings' Practice Squad

The Vikings no longer have a backup kicker.
Will Ragatz|
Jaguars Poach Kicker Chase McLaughlin Off Vikings' Practice Squad
Jaguars Poach Kicker Chase McLaughlin Off Vikings' Practice Squad

The Jaguars poached kicker Chase McLaughlin off of the Vikings' practice squad on Tuesday, ending a months-long effort by the Vikings to keep their backup kicker in purple.

The new rules in this COVID-affected season allow teams to "protect" up to four players on their practice squad every week, preventing other teams from signing that player to their active roster until after their team's next game. The only player that the Vikings have used that protection on was McLaughlin, doing so every single week up to this point. The official Vikings account tweeted about it every week, to the point where it became a meme on Vikings Twitter.

However, players can't be completely protected from being signed to other active rosters. Teams can't make those protections official until 3 p.m. central time on Tuesdays, meaning other teams have a window from Sunday after the games to Tuesday at 3 when they can poach players. And that's exactly what the Jaguars did.

Jacksonville just lost Josh Lambo for the season with an injury, so they needed a replacement. McLaughlin will become the sixth (!) kicker they've used this season when he makes his debut in their ninth game.

McLaughlin is a second-year kicker from Illinois who made 18 of 23 field goals and 26 of 26 extra points as a rookie with the Colts, Chargers, and 49ers. He has a big, accurate leg and could have a shot to stick as the Jags' starting kicker for the rest of the season.

The Vikings' kicker is Dan Bailey, a veteran with a long track record of accuracy. He made 27 of 29 field goals last year, good for the fourth-best percentage in the league. Bailey has had very few attempts this year, making six of just eight so far (both misses coming from 40+ yards). He missed his first extra point of the season last Sunday, though that can be blamed on a low snap by long snapper Austin Cutting.

Now the Vikings no longer have a backup kicker. Given the lengthy process with COVID-19 protocols that is required to get free agents cleared for action, that could become a problem if Bailey were to suffer an injury in the week leading up to a game, for example.

We'll see if the Vikings look to add a free agent like Chandler Catanzaro, Stephen Hauschka, or someone else to their practice squad to replace McLaughlin.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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