Vikings Release Kicker Blair Walsh, Add Kai Forbath

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)

Article by Pablo Mena