The Colts on Tuesday signed kicker Michael Badgley to the 53-man roster, replacing Spencer Shrader after Shrader sustained a season-ending injury in the Colts’ Week 5 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The Colts also placed Shrader on the reserve/injured list, placed cornerback Mike Hilton, who left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury, on the practice squad injured reserve and signed cornerback Troy Pride Jr. to the practice squad.
Badgley is already familiar with the Colts, as he was initially signed by the team in 2018 as an undrafted free agent. Badgley spent the preseason working alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee Adam Vinatieri before he was waived by the Colts before the beginning the season. Badgley returned to the Colts in 2021, replacing the injured Rodrigo Blankenship in Week 5. Badgley handled kicking duties from Week 6 through Week 18; in 12 games, Badgley converted 18-of-21 field goal attempts and was 39-for-39 on PATs.
With that, Badgley is also already familiar with playing alongside long snapper Luke Rhodes and punter Rigoberto Sanchez, who have been with the Colts since 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Special teams coordinator Brian Mason acknowledged on Tuesday that the person who would have to.make the biggest adjustments with a new kicker coming in would be Sanchez, as he is the one placing the ball for the kick. And with that relationship with Sanchez already established, what would have already been a smooth transition with two experienced veterans in Rhodes and Sanchez becomes even smoother.
“He’ll make sure the formation is correct, make sure the cadence is correct, make sure the kicker’s got the spot exactly the way he wants it,” Mason said Tuesday, prior to the Colts signing Badgley. “And Rigo’s an excellent holder, and obviously he’s a veteran. With us having two veteran guys, that will certainly be able to make things a little bit smoother of a transition with them really being able to understand how to operate and having a lot of experience doing that both in a practice and game setting…but certainly it’s still going to take some reps this week for them to be able to get comfortable with each other as we work through some of that.”
In 64 career games with the Colts, Lions (2022-2023), Chicago Bears (2022), Tennessee Titans (2021) and Los Angeles Chargers (2019-2020), Badgley has connected on 98-of-119 field goal attempts (82.4 percent) and 168-for-175 on PATs. He is 5-for-13 on field goal attempts of 50 yards or more, with a career-long of 59 yards.
Badgley missed the 2024 season due to a hamstring injury sustained during training camp with the Lions. In 2023, Badgley appeared in four games for the Lions, going 4-for-4 on field goals and 13-of-15 on PATs.
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