Kicker John Parker Romo, a departed Vikings hero of yesteryear, has been shown the door in Atlanta.
The word arrives courtesy of The NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Consider the update: “The #Falcons are signing veteran K Zane Gonzalez following a workout this morning, sources tell me and @RapSheet. The team is waiving Parker Romo, who was 11-for-14 on FGs with Atlanta and missed a late extra point in the 1-point loss to the #Patriots on Sunday.”
Departed Viking John Parker Romo Axed Yet Again
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has burned through plenty of draft picks. Quite often, those draft picks haven’t been used on players who have thrived as Vikings.
New K1 Will Reichard isn’t among these failed draft selections.
The sophomore is a very talented kicker, one who appears capable of shining for a long time. Reichard came to town as a 6th-Round selection — No. 203 overall — which is a pretty impressive spot to get chosen given the position.
As things stand, Reichard has an 88.9% field goal conversion rate (16/18) and a 100% conversion rate on extra points (16/16). The lone pair of misses have come from 50+. In fact, one of those misses may have been due to the pigskin striking a camera wire, but that’s a bit of a conspiracy theory.
As a rookie, Reichard needed to step back from his job as the starter due to injury, getting shuffled to the IR in a move that was deemed as being the result of overwork.
John Parker Romo stepped into the opening at K1 while Reichard healed.
The fill-in ended up performing admirably. Romo’s four games involved converting 91.7% of his field goals (11/12). He then had a less-inspiring 87.5% number for extra points, but note that we’re talking about a single miss (7/8). The Vikings couldn’t have reasonably asked for more from someone who filled in during the season.
Minnesota’s future, short of disaster, was always going to involve putting the boot back onto Will Reichard’s foot. So, Romo had to look elsewhere for employment.
The journeyman went over to New England to compete for a spot alongside Drake Maye. He didn’t find a lasting spot as a Patriot, so the next opportunity came with Atlanta. The Falcons gave him a shot, replacing the struggling Younghoe Koo. Romo even got in on the Falcons’ Week 2 demolition of the Vikings, going a sizzling 5/5 on field goals in Atlanta’s 22-6 victory.
Dating back to 2022, John Parker Romo has been a Saint, Lion, Bear, Viking, Patriot, and Falcon. Putting in work for six teams means getting close to 20% of the league’s thirty-two teams. Latching onto a seventh team will push him across the (totally arbitrary) 20% threshold. The point is merely to clarify that Romo’s journey has been a wild one, getting into the building across all kinds of teams while nevertheless failing to find a lasting home.
Romo, 28, will be looking to change that reality in his next stop. The NFL is desperate for competent kicking, so developing his game to the point where he can be a single team’s solution will mean another contract before too long.
