The Detroit Lions will sign former Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates.

The Detroit Lions are bringing in additional competition at kicker, and it’s a name some fans have been dying for.

The Lions are expected to sign former Michigan Panthers kicker Jake Bates to a two-year-deal on Tuesday, the first day he’s available following playoffs.

Bates made 21 of 28 field goals this season and ended second in the UFL with 51 kicking points. He visited the Lions on Thursday. And he also visited Washington and Green Bay.

Bates, who played his home games at Ford Field this spring, made a game-winning 64-yard field goal in the Panthers’ season-opening win over the St. Louis Battlehawks and has two additional 60-plus-yard field goals this season.

But as excellent as he was early in the season, Bates hit just 6 of 11 field goals in the Panthers’ final four games and missed a would-be game-winning 53-yarder in the Panthers’ regular season-ending defeat to the Birmingham Stallions.

The Stallions beat the Panthers the next week in the UFL playoffs. The Lions return veteran kicker Michael Badgley and added former Michigan kicker James Turner as an undrafted free agent.

Badgley kicked 27 of 31 field goals in parts of the past two seasons for the Lions, but has just three makes of 50-plus yards in that span.

Turner showed massive leg strength and good accuracy in spring drills, but is not as refined on kickoffs as Badgley.

Bates played as a kickoff specialist in college and before the UFL season had not made a field goal in a game since high school.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes told the Free Press this spring he would explore keeping three kickers, including two on practice squad, because of the NFL’s new kickoff regulations that might make kickers more active in tackling on kickoffs.