Looking for insurance for Tyler Bass, the Buffalo Bills signed K Matt Prater to the practice squad on September 4 amid several other moves.
The 41-year old kicker comes to Buffalo after nearly 20 years in the league. He is one of the more recent accurate kickers and once held the record for longest field goal in NFL history. After a long career, Prater has also suffered his share of injuries.
Read below for Matt Prater’s full publicly reported injury history and analysis.
Injury History
2006-2008 Detroit Lions/Miami Dolphins/Atlanta Falcons/Denver Broncos
Injury reports not available on Pro-Football-Reference.com
2009 Broncos
No publicly reported injuries.
2010 Broncos
Groin injury, Week 13, missed 4 games, placed on IR.
2011 Broncos
No publicly reported injuries.
2012 Broncos
No publicly reported injuries.
2013 Broncos
Right Calf, Week 5, missed 0 games.
2014 Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2015 Lions
Illness, Week 13, missed 0 games.
2016 Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2017 Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2018 Lions
No publicly reported injuries.
2019 Lions
Illness, Week 17, missed 0 games.
2020 Lions
Back, Week 16, missed 0 games.
2021 Arizona Cardinals
No publicly reported injuries.
2022 Arizona Cardinals
Right Hip, Week 4, missed 3 games.
2023 Arizona Cardinals
No publicly reported injuries.
2024 Arizona Cardinals
Meniscus tear left knee, Week 3, missed 13 games, went on IR.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
Most kickers don’t have many medical issues which leads to their lengthy careers. The only notable injuries that aren’t an issue now are the groin and right hip issues that forced him to miss time early in his career, both common issues with kickers. These have also been isolated issues from what can be found above.
The more pressing and recent issue is the meniscus tear originally sustained in Week 3. It’s not clear if he tore it then or had a lingering issue that worsened and eventually needed surgery. Considering this was his plant leg, the plant and rotation component likely led to the tear which kept him out for the year as repairs take longer to return from than trims.
Most players return to play from a meniscus repair at their prior level at as high as 96.2 percent and 80 percent have no arthritic changes after eight years. The re-injury rate is also as low as 8.7 percent in athletes which means this will be a minor concern for Prater. I don’t expect him to kick for much longer which means any longevity concerns in signing him are moot. Considering he is on the practice squad but could see game action, there is minimal concern for re-injury.
It’s curious that Prater signed to the practice squad after they had Caden Davis during the preseason and had several kickers in for a tryout. Does this suggest that Prater is an insurance policy if Bass can’t go and can be elevated as needed? Is Bass’s injury minor and no other kicker wanted to sign for little guarantee to play? We need more information on Bass to have a better idea of what Prater will be for the Bills.
Either way, this is a low risk signing for a proven kicker despite his age.
I would like to welcome Matt Prater to Buffalo and remain healthy this season.
Top Photo Credit: Tyler Drake/Arizona Sports
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