Cleveland Browns: 3 Kickers to target via trade

1. Dan Bailey, Minnesota Vikings

Norwegian kicker Kaare Vedvik had a great performance in his first preseason game with the Baltimore Ravens as he knocked in all four field-goal attempts against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also added two punts that traveled more than 50-yards. As great as this performance was, there was no way he was beating out Justin Tucker — which led to the Ravens fielding calls for his services.

He ended up being traded to the Minnesota Vikings (which is fitting) in exchange for a fifth-round pick and will likely supplant Dan Bailey. They could also decide to let Vedvik compete with Matt Wilfe for the punting job considering he looked more than capable in that role as well. Either way, they have a great weapon on their hands who can drill the football.

Of course, Cleveland could come in and make the decision easier for the Vikings by offering to take Bailey off their hands. Bailey enters his ninth season in the NFL and his second with Minnesota but things haven’t been great for him the past two seasons.

The veteran made just 75 percent of his kicks the past two years, including a 2017 season that saw him get just 20 attempts as injuries slowed him down throughout the season. This led to the Dallas Cowboys cutting him in favor of Brett Maher — which was still a shock — and could compel Minnesota to go with the younger option in Vedvik.

With the Vikings in 2018, Bailey started out slow, but made his last five field-goal tries of the season and is one-of-one in this preseason — although that was just a 24-yarder. Even with that kick being short, Bailey is 5-of-5 on extra points, which is better than the Cleveland kickers can boast at the moment.

At 31-years of age, Bailey is far from done in the NFL and he’s again looking healthy. At one point, he was competing with Justin Tucker for the honor of being the most accurate kicker in the game. There’s a chance he could return to that form, which makes exploring a trade well worth it.