Earlier in 2025 the Colts had a kicking tryout to replace the injured Spencer Shrader, who went out for the season after a hit against the Titans. The Colts decided to bring back Michael Badgley for another stint with the team. He was originally with the Colts for the 2018 Preseason as a camp leg UDFA behind Adam Vinatieri, and returned to the Colts in 2021 midseason. He went 18/22 that season for the Colts (long of 46), alongwith 40/41 on Extra Points.
It hasn’t been all bad with Badgley in 2025. He is 10/11 in Field Goals with the Colts, including 2/3 from 50+ yards out with a long of 53 yards. In his 7 games he has reliably gotten the Colts 3 points and seems to have good range as well. He even sent the Colts to Overtime with a 44 yard kick against the Falcons with close to 20 second left in the 4th Quarter, displaying some clutchness.
But the issues arise in the Extra Point. While it’s no longer the gimme it once was when kicks were snapped at the 2 yard line (a 20 yard kick), the extra point has moved to the 15 yard line snap for a 32/33 yard kick is still one NFL kickers are expected to make regularly.
Badgley has gone 18/21 on Extra Points with misses against the Chargers (1 Extra Point in a 14 point win), Falcons (1 Field Goal and an Extra Point in an Overtime Win), and most recently Texans (1 Extra Point in a 4 Point loss) costing the Colts valuable points. While he did help send the game to Overtime against the Falcons, had he made either of his prior misses then the Game wouldn’t have gone to Overtime in the first place. Against the Texans, his early Extra Point miss had a big impact, as the Colts could have had their final drive of the game needing a Field goal rather than a Touchdown.
So the Colts are naturally bringing in some Kickers to try out once again for the position.
Veterans like Josh Lambo, Dustin Hopkins, and Matt Ammendolda all were in the Colts previous round of tryouts in October and are still available. They will likely will be brought back for this new round as well. Joel A Erickson of IndyStar reports that former Saints kicker Blake Grupe is one of the kickers trying out, a new name to add to the watch.
There are other options on other NFL teams’ practice squads that have kicked in various games in 2025 as well that could be signed by the Colts, as Kevin Bowen of 1075 The Fan points out:
–Lucas Havrisik: Currently on the Packers practice squad, Havrisik has kicked for the Packers in 3 games this season: 7-of-9 on extra points and 4/4 on field goals. Havrisik did make a 61-yard field goal and kicked off for Green Bay, too.
–Harrison Mevis: Currently on the Rams practice squad, Mevis filled in nicely when LA needed him for 4 games. Mevis was a perfect 17-of-17 on extra points and 2-of-2 on field goals, including one from 52 yards. Mevis did kickoff for the Rams, too.
–Matthew Wright: Recently cut by the Texans, Wright has kicked in 4 games this season, for the Texans, Titans and Commanders. Wright was 5-of-5 on field goals and 4-of-4 on extra points in those games, also handling kickoff duties.
One option that wasn’t available in the first round of tryouts is Justin Tucker. Tucker just finished his suspension a few weeks ago and had his first post-suspension NFL tryout with the Saints last week. Tucker does bring a pedigree that none of the other kickers have, with the 4th highest Field Goal Percentage of All Time (the 3 ahead are young kickers who entered the league in 2019-2023) and has made the 14th most Field Goals All Time. But the elephant in the room of why the 8x All Pro Kicker is available and was suspended looms large.
Tucker was suspended for the first 10 games of the 2025 season for violating the league’s Personal Conduct policy after investigations uncovered allegations of sexual misconduct from 16 different massage therapists in the Baltimore area from 2012-2016.
He was released in May by the Ravens after these allegations emerged. This was also following his worst NFL season with 5/8 from 40-49 yard kicks and 6/11 in 50+ yard kicks, causing a career low 73.3% Field Goal Percentage (he was also 60/62 on Extra Points).
Considering the scandal surrounding Tucker and his poor play in 2025, he likely isn’t an option the Colts are considering.
Colts Thoughts on Badgley
This tryout is different than the prior one however, as it has an incumbent to competing to stay with the Colts.
Shane Steichen deferred to Chris Ballard in his Monday presser in regards to the Kicking position tryouts. He did have some encouragement for Badgley, but also acknowledged what he expects from him on Extra Points.
“Badg knows he’s got to make the PATs. I love Badg. I love Badg the player, I love Badg the person. And we’ll see where it goes. Whoever is out there kicking for us, we have a ton of faith in whoever that is. Badg has done a hell of a job. He’s made big-time kicks for us, but obviously we’ve got to make the past there.”
Whether or not Badgley retains the reins on on his Kicking position will come down to these closed door tryouts and if Steichen and Ballard believe it’s time to make a change. The pressure is on for “the Money Badger”.
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