Former Lions kicker Matt Prater signs with Arizona Cardinals

The Matt Prater era in Detroit is over.

On Wednesday evening the Arizona Cardinals announced that they have signed the veteran kicker to a two-year deal. Per Ian Rapoport, the deal is worth a $7 million base with incentives to climb that deal higher.

For the past six and a half seasons, Prater had been one of the most steady players for the Detroit Lions. First acquired midseason in 2014 after the Denver Broncos released him, Prater went on to make the Pro Bowl once for the Lions and set many records in the process. Just last year, he became the all-time NFL leader in made field goals of 50 yards or longer.

Over those 107 games played with the Lions, Prater made 179 of 212 field goals for an accuracy percentage of 84.4 percent. However, he’s coming off his worst season as of yet, converting on just 75 percent of his kicks, including just a 4-of-7 completion rate from 40 to 49 yards.

The Lions will now head into 2021 with a new kicker to lead their specialists. As of now, Detroit does have Matthew Wright under contract. Wright went undrafted in 2019 after kicking for the University of Central Florida, completing 77.5 of his kicks. Last year with the Steelers, he stepped in and made four of four field goals.