Kicker Update: Conway Out, Andersen In

The Vikings’ turbulent kicker situation took another turn today with the signing of the ageless (OK, he’s actually 44 years old) Morten Andersen.

The Vikings signed kicker Morten Andersen today and plan to use him in Sunday’s opener against Dallas.

The 44-year-old Andersen has been to the Pro Bowl seven times, an NFL record among kickers, most recently in 1995 and was in a training camp battle with first-year player Lawrence Tynes in Kansas City this year. The Chiefs released Andersen over the weekend.

The Chiefs reportedly didn’t feel Andersen had the leg to kick off, but the Vikings will use Andersen for that duty for at least the first three weeks of the season, taking them up to their bye week. During this month, kicking consultant Doug Blevins and special teams coach Rusty Tillman will be working with practice squad punter Travis Dorsch on kicking off. If things go well with Dorsch’s progress there, the Vikings hope to elevate him to the 53-man roster and use him for kickoffs while keeping Andersen as the field goal kicker.

Brett Conway will be the latest roster casualty in the team’s kicking game.

Going on 23 NFL seasons, Andersen is second only to George Blanda for NFL longevity. Blanda completed 26 NFL seasons. Andersen is also second in NFL history for points scored (2,259), trailing former Vikings kicker Gary Anderson (2,346).

Andersen has been accurate on 78.9 percent of his field goal attempts throughout his career and hit 16 of 20 (80 percent) last year for Kansas City.