Lions Announce Four Roster Moves, Sign LB Malik Jefferson

July 27, 2024

Ian Rapoport reports that the Lions are signing veteran LB Malik Jefferson. The Lions also announced four other moves including placing K Michael Badgley on injured reserve following a season-ending hamstring injury.

In other moves, the team placed OL Christian Mahogany on the non-football injury list and waived OL Matt Farniok with an injury settlement.

Jefferson, 27, is a former third-round pick by the Bengals out of Texas back in 2017. He agreed to a four-year, $3,383,728 contract that includes a $923,728 signing bonus.

The Bengals waived Jefferson and he was later claimed by the Browns. He then had a brief stint with the Chargers before catching on with the Titans.

Jefferson returned to the Chargers and had a stint with the Colts before signing on to the Cowboys’ practice squad. He spent a brief amount of time on the Cowboys’ active roster before becoming a free agent once more.

In 2023, Jefferson appeared in three games for the Cowboys and recorded three tackles.

Badgley was competing with Jake Bates for the Lions’ kicker job, so it’s possible Detroit will bring in some more competition for the rest of training camp and the preseason.

Badgley, 28, originally signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Miami in 2018, but Indianapolis waived him before the season began.

He signed with the Chargers in October of 2018, where he spent the next three seasons as the primary kicker. Los Angeles tendered Badgley a qualifying offer, and Badgley re-signed with the team on a one-year, $1.1 million deal.

From there, he played for the Titans, Colts, and Bears before joining the Lions. Detroit re-signed him to a one-year deal for the 2023 season but released him in July and he caught on with the Commanders.

Washington released Badgley and he had a brief stint with the Titans before being cut yet again and joining the Lions. He was promoted from Detroit’s practice squad in December and returned to the Lions on a one-year deal this past February.

In 2023, Badgley appeared in four games for the Lions and converted four of his only field goal attempts, to go along with 13 of 15 extra point attempts.