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The Detroit Lions signed big-footed UFL kicker Jake Bates to a two-year contract, his agent, Marty Magid, told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Bates received a $1.98 million deal that includes $150,000 guaranteed and a $100,000 signing bonus, Magid told Schefter on Tuesday. Bates, 24, ranked second in the UFL this season with 17 field goals for the Michigan Panthers. That includes a 64-yard game-winning kick in the season opener against the St. Louis Battlehawks -- just two yards less than Justin Tucker's NFL record of 66. That kick was Bates' first in a game, as the former soccer player didn't turn to football until he was a senior in high school and was a kickoff specialist in college at Texas State and Arkansas. Bates visited the Lions, Packers and Commanders before opting to stay in Michigan.
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