Adored Former Viking Signs with Falcons
The Minnesota Vikings play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night, and the Falcons will have a beloved ex-Viking in their roster orbit.
A beloved ex-Viking has signed with the Falcons, giving Atlanta a proven veteran presence ahead of the Vikings’ game with ATL on Sunday.
He’s Parker Romo, who kicked briefly and tremendously for Minnesota last season when the regular kicker, Will Reichard, injured his quad.
Atlanta signed Romo as kicking insurance on Tuesday after Younghoe Koo’s gaffes in Week 1.
Fan-Favorite Former Viking Heads to Falcons
Romo will try on Atlanta for size.
Parker Romo to Falcons
After not making the cut on the New England Patriots’ final roster this summer, Romo hit the unemployment line, which lasted about two weeks.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted, “The Falcons are signing kicker Parker Romo to the practice squad, per source. After Younghoe Koo’s critical miss Sunday, Raheem Morris said they’d bring in competition. It’ll be Romo, who was 11-for-12 on field goals in four games last season with Minnesota.”
“Parker Romo was in camp with the Patriots. He was one of several kickers who worked out this morning for Falcons — a list that also included Zane Gonzalez, Michael Badgley and Ben Sauls.”
Romo is now one practice-squad call-up from a return to the big time.
The Vikings’… Next Opponent
If you pull out the Vikings schedule for Week 2, you will find … the Atlanta Falcons.
Minnesota thrillingly won on Monday Night Football over the Chicago Bears, and the Falcons lost a mini-thriller to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Koo missed a field goal that would’ve tied the contest and forced overtime, so he’s evidently on the hot seat.
While it’s somewhat unlikely that Koo gets demoted in the next five days, Romo is now an option to kick against his former team on Sunday Night Football.
Romo in Minnesota Last Season
Romo became the Vikings’ main kicker from Week 10 to 13 in 2024 after the aforementioned Reichard hit injured reserve. The new Falcon consistently made kicks, even acting as the only points in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. Romo also drilled a game-winning field goal versus the Bears on the road midseason in 2024.
When Reichard healed, Minnesota had no choice but to cut Romo, and he’s bounced around in the last 10 months looking for work.
Younghoe Koo’s Doldrums
Falcons skipper Raheem Morris was ticked after Sunday’s loss, not taking it easy on Koo, who missed an easy game-tying field goal.
“Yeah, he missed it. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I can tell you about the technique and what happened on that miss. But we’ve got to make those kicks. Those are great, makeable kicks, and we have to lock in and make those kicks and get it done,” Morris told reporters.
Koo has devolved into one of the NFL’s worst kickers in the last year, and Romo is in the house in case that trend continues.
More on Koo
A to Z Sports‘ Evan Winter on the Falcons’ kicking situation: “Last year was Younghoe Koo’s worst season as a full-time kicker and 2025 is not off to a good start. Therefore, the Atlanta Falcons will start looking at other options in order to try and get Koo back on track. And, of course, it’s Plan B in case he doesn’t and the team has to part ways.”
“Morris kept his word. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Falcons added John Parker Romo to the practice squad on Tuesday. He made 11-of-12 field goal attempts with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 that included a long of 55 yards. He went 7-of-8 on PAT attempts. Koo hit just 73.5% of his field goal attempts last year.”
Not long ago, Koo was considered one of the NFL’s best kickers.
Winter continued, “He did make two field goals against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, but one of the makes barely went through. It doinked off the right upright and luckily went through, but it could’ve easily been a bad miss. Per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Koo’s 73% make rate ranks 29th out of 31 kickers with at least 20 field goal attempts since the start of 2024.”
“It’s time to shape up or ship out, as they say. Koo’s job is on the line and if he doesn’t clean it up then the Falcons will certainly have no problem plugging in their new addition as soon as possible.”
Romo could have a full-time job if Koo doesn’t figure it out in a hurry.
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