The Lions are on to their sixth kicker in the third month of the season, signing Riley Patterson off the Patriots' practice squad Tuesday after releasing Ryan Santoso following his disastrous performance against the Steelers.
Which would be noteworthy on its own. That's a lot of kickers. In not a lot of time.
But these are the Lions were talking about. There's always another layer or three to the story.
Like Randy Bullock, who wasn't good enough for the Lions to make the team out of camp but was good enough to win AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Titans in Week 8 -- when he drilled four field goals, including a 46-yard game-winner in OT.
Like Matthew Wright, who wasn't good enough for the Lions to replace Bullock, but was good enough to win AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Jaguars in Week 6 -- when he drilled two 50-plus yard field goals in the final four minutes, including the game winner as time expired.
Like Zane Gonzalez, who wasn't good enough for the Lions to replace Wright, but was good enough to win NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Panthers in Week 8 and again in Week 10 -- during a stretch in which he's hit 16 field goals in a row.
Wouldn't you know it, Bullock and Gonzalez are two of the top kickers in the NFL this season.
Bullock, who signed a one-year, $1.75 million with Detroit last offseason to replace Matt Prater -- who won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week with the Cardinals in Week 6 (!!) -- has drilled a career-best 90 percent of his field goals. That ranks fifth among kickers with at least 20 attempts.
Gonzalez has drilled a career-best 91 percent of his field goals. That ranks third among kickers with at least 20 attempts. His 12 field goals from 40+ are the second most in the league.
Who knows how any of these guys would have fared had they stuck with the Lions. Their results in training camp certainly didn't suggest anything like this -- hence why they didn't make the team. Nor their results last season, when Bullock hit 81 percent of his field goals and Gonzalez hit just 73 percent. But these are the Lions were talking about.
There's always another layer.
Like Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, when Santoso squandered Detroit's first win of the season by missing an extra point in regulation and coming up short on a 48-yard field goal in OT. Santoso was only out there because Austin Seibert, who was good enough for the Lions to replace Gonzalez, landed on the IR last week with a hip injury.
Siebert had been fine until then, hitting 83 percent of his field goals in six games. But he hadn't been anywhere near as good as Gonzalez or Bullock have been. At least the Lions have him under contract through next season.
As for Prater, the Lions weren't wrong to move on. The feeling was mutual. Prater signed a $6.5 million deal with the contending Cardinals, where he'll cost $4.5 million against the cap next season on the backside of his career. He's converted 82 percent of his field goals this season. There are plenty of kickers out there who can do that for less.
Like Bullock, who's making a tick over $1 million with the Titans this season, or Gonzalez, who's making a tick under $1 million with the Panthers. And yeah, like Seibert, who's making less than both of them. But Seibert is hurt, Bullock and Gonzalez are gone, and the Lions are moving onto Patterson.
Someone should sign Santoso. He's the next Special Teams Player of the Week.