Detroit Lions sign record-breaking UFL kicker Jake Bates to two-year deal

(CBS DETROIT) - The Detroit Lions have signed kicker Jake Bates of the UFL's Michigan Panthers to a two-year, $1.98 million deal. 

Bates' agent confirmed with CBS News Detroit that the defending NFC North champions locked up the UFL's record-breaking kicker in a deal that will see Bates receive a $100,000 signing bonus as well as a $75,000 workout bonus and a $50,000 roster bonus. Bates will earn $795,000 in his first year and $960,000 in his second year. 

Bates grabbed the national spotlight this season by booting a UFL record 64-yard field goal at Ford Field in a Week 1 win over the St. Louis Battlehawks. Bates' kick was two yards short of tying Justin Tucker's NFL record-setting 66-year-old field, set by the Baltimore Raven in 2021 against the Lions in Ford Field. 

Bates connected on 21 of 28 field goal attempts for the Panthers in 11 games during the 2024 season, including three 60-plus-yard field goals. 

An undrafted free agent out of Arkansas, Bates was a collegiate soccer player at Central Arkansas, playing two seasons in 2018 and 2019 before transferring to Texas State in 2020 to play football as a kickoff specialist and later to Arkansas in 2022. 

Bates was signed by the Houston Texans in July 2023 but was released a few weeks later. He later signed with the Panthers in December 2023. 

The 24-year-old Bates joins a Lions kicking roster that includes NFL veteran Michael Badgley and rookie James Turner.