Blair Walsh has found a new NFL team.

Seahawks Sign Ex-Vikings kicker Blair Walsh

The Seahawks announced Thursday that they have signed the former Minnesota Vikings kicker.

Walsh, 27, missed four field goals and four extra points in 2016 before being cut in mid-November. The Vikings signed free agent Kai Forbath as a replacement.

Following a strong start to his career in 2012, Walsh struggled the past two seasons, missing nine field goal attempts and eight extra points in total.

One of Walsh’s biggest misses was a 27-yard field goal attempt  that came in the 2015 playoffs during a loss to the Seahawks and shattered the Vikings’ chance to advance past the wild-card round.

A sixth-round draft pick out of Georgia in 2012, Walsh signed a four-year, $15 million contract extension with the Vikings in 2015 after setting several team records.

The signing could signal the end of Steven Hauschka’s six-year run in Seattle– the kicker is set to become a free agent. Hauschka also struggled in 2016, missing four field goal attempts and six extra points. The 31-year-old has proved ineffective since the NFL moved the extra point back, missing 11 total PATs in the last two years (including playoffs).

Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings prepares for a kickoff by Joe Bielawa via Wikimedia Commons.

The Minnesota Vikings have released embattled kicker Blair Walsh following another dreadful performance in Sunday’s 26-20 loss to Washington, NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday.

Vikings Release Kicker Blair Walsh, Add Kai Forbath

The team later confirmed the move, and quickly found a replacement: veteran Kai Forbath, who signed with the Vikings on Wednesday.

Forbath has made 69 of 82 field goals (84.1 percent) and 124 of 127 extra points (97.6 percent) since October 2012 when he joined Washington as a free agent. He was with the Redskins until October 2015 and finished last season with the Saints.

“It was just something felt we needed to do,” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday on the kicking change.

After quarterback Sam Bradford and the Vikings scored 20 unanswered points against the Redskins on Sunday, Walsh missed an extra point just before the half, keeping Washington within striking distance at 20-14. This error was just one of many for the fifth-year veteran.

Walsh, a sixth-round draft pick in 2012, had made 12 of 16 field goals this season and was 15 of 19 on extra points. His four missed extra points are an NFL high. Walsh’s troubles began last season, when he botched a 27-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds remaining to give the Seattle Seahawks a 10-9 victory in the NFC wild-card round.

That nationally televised mistake came in sub-zero temperatures that marked the third-coldest game in NFL history.

Walsh, 26, made 133 of 158 (84.2 percent) of his field goals during his time in Minnesota with a career-long of 56 yards.

The Vikings had worked out Forbath, Randy Bullock, Zach Hocker, Marshall Koehn, Aldrick Rosas and Travis Coons one week ago.

Special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer thought the tryouts would “light a fire” under Walsh, who missed a key extra point against the Detroit Lions in Week 9, after he had gone three games without missing a kick.

When asked a week ago why the team decided to try other options, Zimmer said, “You haven’t been watching all year?”

The Vikings (5-4), who are second in the NFC North, will next host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

LANDOVER, MD – DECEMBER 20: Kicker Kai Forbath #2 of the Washington Redskins hits the game winning field goal in the fourth quarter as the Washington Redskins defeated the pp 27-24 at FedExField on December 20, 2014 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Even in a team sport, most games will be decided on the performance of one individual. For the Minnesota Vikings, that individual was kicker Blair Walsh, who shanked what could have been a game-winning field goal this past Sunday, turning him into the goat.

After the game, Walsh reportedly sat in tears at his locker; at the same time, he was being raked over the coals by Vikings fans everywhere. Some other fans–first graders at Northpoint Elementary–are voicing the opposite opinion by sending Walsh letters of support.

“I knew that Mr. Walsh probably felt horrible about it,” Julie Offerdahl, the class’ teacher, told the Star Tribune. “I also knew it would be a good teachable moment for the kids.”

Each student then penned a note to the kicker urging him to keep his head up. Messages ranged from, “You are handsome. … Don’t worry. It’s just a game,” to “Keep on trying. Puppies are cute.”

Walsh received the notes and thanked the class personally on Thursday morning. “Thank you very much for all the letters and cards you wrote,” he told the kids, according to the Star Tribune. “It was very touching to me. A lot of them were very pretty and creative.… I will cherish them forever.”

“It was pretty unbelievable,” the kicker said. “It really made a difference in my life.… It’s really important because these kids don’t know me.”

Photo: Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings prepares for a kickoff by Joe Bielawa via Wikimedia Commons.