John Parker Romo reportedly among kickers brought in for Vikings workouts

The Vikings are preparing to potentially be without Will Reichard this week.

Detroit Lions place kicker John Parker Romo (24) watches practice during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters in Allen Park on Thursday, June 1, 2023. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Vikings were still awaiting further information on kicker Will Reichard's quad injury when Kevin O'Connell spoke to reporters on Monday, but they're preparing for the possibility that they won't have him for at least this weekend's game against the Jaguars.

Minnesota is bringing in a group of kickers for workouts — tryouts, essentially — at TCO Performance Center on Tuesday, according to KSTP's Darren Wolfson. One of those kickers, Wolfson reported on SKOR North, is John Parker Romo, who was with the team this offseason.

"It's not a great list of (kickers) available," he said. "I'm not even sure if the Vikings have full clarity on Will Reichard's quad injury, but they're operating as if he is going to miss time. They need to be ready to pull the trigger in the event he can't go."

Update: Reichard is reportedly headed to IR. Romo is being signed as his replacement.

Romo was signed by the Vikings in March and released in late July after it became clear that Reichard had won the job. He was originally an undrafted free agent in 2022 after a college career that ended with a strong senior season at Virginia Tech. After a brief offseason stint with the Saints, he wound up with the XFL's San Antonio Brahmas in spring 2023 and earned All-XFL honors by making 17 of 19 field goal attempts, including a 57-yarder. Romo was then with the Lions during the offseason and spent some time on the Bears' practice squad.

Now he could be an option for the VIkings, who are familiar with the 27-year-old from his time with the team earlier this year.

Details on the other kickers brought in by Minnesota should be available later on Tuesday. One name to keep an eye on is Anders Carlson, the former Packers kicker. He's been filling in for the 49ers over the past couple games but could be expendable if San Francisco gets Jake Moody back from his injury this week, which sounds like a possibility.

The Vikings are also going to need a new long snapper this week to replace Andrew DePaola, who might be headed to short-term injured reserve with a hand issue that required surgery.