Colts signing Michael Badgley to replace Spencer Shrader

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts are bringing back a familiar face to replace injured kicker Spencer Shrader.

The team has signed Michael Badgley, whose seven-year career includes spending the 2021 season in Indy, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

That season, Badgley initially was signed to the practice squad after Rodrigo Blankenship suffered a hip injury in pregame warmups in the week 5 game at Baltimore. He was added to the active roster for the subsequent game against Houston and handled the kicking duties the remainder of the season when Blankenship was placed on the injured reserve list.

Along with having familiarity with Badgley, the team was impressed with his consistency.

In 2021, he converted 18-of-21 field goals (85.7%) with a long of 46 and was 39-of-39 of PATs.

Badgley didn’t play in 2024 after tearing a hamstring in July 2024 while with the Detroit Lions. He spent the season on IR.

In 64 career games with the Colts, Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans, Badgley has connected on 98-of-119 field-goal attempts (82.4%) with a long of 59 and is 168-of-175 on PATs. He’s 5-of-13 on attempts of at least 50 yards.

While Badgley hasn’t been reliable on 50-plus-yard attempts, he converted 87.7% of his career attempts inside 50.

He’s replacing the top kicker in the NFL through five games.

Shrader tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee in Sunday’s 40-6 win over Las Vegas when the Raiders’ Tristin McCollum dove into his leg on a PAT.

In four-plus games, Shrader has a league-best 53 points. He converted 13-of-14 field-goal attempts and was 14-of-14 on PATs.

“We’re just gutted for Spencer Shrader,’’ special teams coordinator Brian Mason said Tuesday. “Just really unfortunate news. Hard to necessarily put that all into words.

“So, I loved the kid. I recruited him to the University of Notre Dame . . . I had an interesting path with him to already have known him and his family. Obviously, he then came to us as an undrafted free agent last year . . . did an unbelievable job.

“We all knew that he had really special leg talent.’’

Often, there’s a significant transition process in the kicking routine when one of the three — kicker, snapper, holder — is out of the rotation for any reason.

That’s especially true when it’s the kicker.

But there’s a caveat in this instance. When Badgley did the bulk of the kicking in 2021, his snapper and holder were the Colts’ long-time snapper and long-time punter: Luke Rhodes and Rigoberto Sanchez.

The adjustment with a new kicker mostly falls on the holder. Mason compared the holder to a caddie in golf.

“To be able to make sure (the kicker) is mentally and physically ready,’’ he said. “He knows when the kicker is ready for the snap . . . he’ll make sure the formation is correct, make sure the cadence is correct, make sure the kicker has got the spot exactly the way he wants it.

“How does the kicker want the ball spotted? Does he want forward lean? Does he want the nose of the ball to lean towards the holder? Does he just want the ball straight up and down, vertical? Some kickers want it slightly different, and they might want it different in different situations with different weather conditions or different distance of the kick.

“So, that’ll be Rigo. Rigo is an excellent holder. With us having two veteran guys that will certainly be able to make things a little bit smoother of a transition.’’

Other roster moves

Along with signing Badgely, the team placed Shrader on the injured reserve list, signed cornerback Troy Pride Jr. to the practice squad and placed cornerback Mike Hilton on practice squad IR.

Hilton suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday’s win over the Raiders. It’s possible Hilton could return at some point this season.

You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.