According to Michigan Wolverines reporter Anthony Broome, the Detroit Lions are signing Michigan kicker James Turner as an undrafted free agent.

Over the weekend, the 2024 NFL Draft saw three kickers drafted—Alabama’s Will Reichard (Vikings), Stanford’s Joshua Karty (Rams), and Arkansas’ Cam Little (Jaguars)—all in the sixth round. The Lions opted to pass on the opportunity to add kicker competition in the draft, but identified Turner in the undrafted free agent market.

Turner has four years of college experience as a kicker. For the first three years at the college ranks, he was with Louisville. There he had two successful seasons sandwiching a rough one. Take a look:

• 2020: 40-of-40 on extra points (100%), 13-of-15 on field goals (86.7%), Long: 50
• 2021: 46-of-48 on extra points (95.8), 14-of-22 on field goals (63.6%), Long: 46
• 2022: 38-of-39 on extra points (97.4), 20-of-22 on field goals (90.9%), Long: 48

In that 2022 season, Turner set the Louisville program record for field goal percentage, while tying for most field goals made in a season.

In 2023, Turner entered the transfer portal and helped the Wolverines win a national championship. He converted 65-of-66 extra points, along with 18-of-21 (85.7%) on field goals, with a long of 50 yards—which he accomplished on three different occasions. In the national title game, Turner was a perfect 6-for-6 on kicks (two field goals, four extra points).

In short, Turner has been a reliable kicker from short and moderate distances, but with a college long of just 50 yards, he may not solve the Lions’ current issue of having no reliable long-distance kicker.

Turner will come in and compete with incumbent kicker Michael Badgley. Last year, Badgley initially lost out on the kicker competition before returning to the practice squad, winning the job back, and going 4-of-4 in the regular season and 3-for-3 on field goals in the postseason.

In addition to adding Turner, the Lions have also shown interest in Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates, who has caught the attention of NFL teams after starting the season perfect on field goals, including a pair of makes from 60+ yards. Bates cannot sign with a team until the UFL season is over in June.

To see all of the Lions’ UDFA signings, head over to our 2024 UDFA tracker.

In the end, Detroit saw Nashville’s 600,000 and raised it. By a lot.

Per the NFL, “over 775,000” attended the three-day draft. That surpasses the prior record, from 2019, by nearly 30 percent.

Next year, Green Bay gets its turn. The fact that a division rival drew so many people will surely be regarded as a challenge by Green Bay and all of Wisconsin to match or exceed it.

It feels like, somewhere, the draft will hit one million for the three days, sooner than later. It’s come a very long way from Radio City Music Hall, where the first night was magical and the second night was OK and the third day featured tons of empty seats. (I was present for each of the last five drafts held there.)

The league left in 2015 because of a scheduling conflict. The draft went to Chicago for two years and then to Philly and it will never look back.

The next time it’s in New York, it won’t be in Radio City Music Hall. And it will feature a lot more people. Hell, it might be held in Times Square, turning New Year’s Eve into a three-day affair.

Regardless, look for the draft to keep on moving. And look for it to keep on getting bigger and bigger.