The Detroit Lions officially tendered an offer to exclusive rights free agent K Jake Bates on Thursday, according to Dave Birkett.
Exclusive rights contracts are essentially one-year minimum contracts based on the number of accrued seasons a player has.
Bates, 27, played soccer for two seasons at Central Arkansas before transferring to Texas State and switching to football as a kickoff specialist. He did that for three years, spending his final year at Arkansas after another transfer.
Bates had a stint with the Texans for about a week in 2023 during the preseason. He later joined the Michigan Panthers for the 2024 UFL season.
From there, Bates joined the Lions for the 2024 season and has been in Detroit ever since.
In 2025, Bates appeared in all 17 games for the Lions and converted 27 of 34 field goal attempts (79.4 percent) to go along with 54 of 56 extra point tries (96.4 percent).
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