Lions re-sign Matt Prater to three-year deal

After the 2014 season concluded, kicker Matt Prater indicated that he wanted to remain with the Detroit Lions. They gave him another chance after his suspension and release from the Denver Broncos, and he gave the Lions some stability after a disastrous start to the season at the kicker position. A new deal for Prater made sense for both sides, and he re-signed for three more years on Friday.

Prater: "I am thankful for this opportunity and excited to come back to Detroit. I hope to do my part to help this team win."

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) March 6, 2015

Ian Rapoport reports that Prater's new three-year deal is worth $9 million. It's unclear what his cap hit will be for 2015, but clearly the Lions are learning from their past mistakes at the position. They tried to go cheap when Jason Hanson retired, and that didn't exactly work out, and their plan of drafting a kicker especially didn't work out last year.

This year, Prater is now locked in as the starter after going 21-for-26 on field goals in 2014. He had some initial rust after joining the Lions last October, but he was quite reliable once he had a chance to shake that off.