Lock up the Ghost. Now.

[ctpatsfan77]

I know it has to wait until after the playoffs, but, seriously.

Look at what we've watched the last few weeks, both in the NFL and in college.

Ghost admittedly isn't perfect, but you can't possibly count on getting anyone better than him anytime soon, either in FA or in the draft.

 

[muslimman]

Graham just beat the Bengals.

 

[StraightCashHomey81]

Couldn't agree more. Watching Graham, a longtime NFL kicker, screw the Bungals made me appreciate Gostkowski even more. We were fortunate to get such a great kicker to replace Adam V, perhaps the best kicker ever. Lets not get overconfident and think good ones just grow on trees.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

I know it has to wait until after the playoffs, but, seriously.

Look at what we've watched the last few weeks, both in the NFL and in college.

Ghost admittedly isn't perfect, but you can't possibly count on getting anyone better than him anytime soon, either in FA or in the draft.

here here....

 

[spacecrime]

Does anyone remember the arguments his first preseason and early games of his first year, some declaring him a bust, wanting to keep Grammatica, with more than one patsfan referring to Gost-Miss-ski?

 

[patriotscpfc]

I wasn't too bothered about signing him for a massive amount a week or so back, but after watching Folk, Suisham, Kris Brown and a few others, I was considering it.

After watching Graham fail completely tonight, it's a definite that we have to sign him.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Because he is a RFA they simply don't have to. I'm sure they will tender him high. The sad thing is Shane Graham was franchise tagged by the Bengals for this season... They just need to blow that whole franchise up...

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Because he is a RFA they simply don't have to. I'm sure they will tender him high. The sad thing is Shane Graham was franchise tagged by the Bengals for this season... They just need to blow that whole franchise up...

Unnecessary != bad idea.

Then why did they lock up LeVoir, who would have been an RFA as well?

 

[mgteich]

I'm sure that the patriots have talked with Gost's folks and will continue to do so. There is no pressure on either party to make a deal. Gost will likely getting a scond level tender and therefore $2.4M for his services in 2010. No one is going to give a 1st for a kicker. If the patriots are worried about this, they can give him a high tender of $3M and require a 1st and a 3rd. Let's be serious! We would gladly take a 1st for a kicker.

So, we will have Gost at least through the 2010 season.

There is no rush to make a deal. However, in a no-cap year, Gost and the patriots might indeed be able to come to terms.

And, just BTW, I agree that a kicker is very important and would be willing to "overpay" Gost at $3M a year for 5 years, or even a bit more.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Unnecessary != bad idea.

Then why did they lock up LeVoir, who would have been an RFA as well?

Because he's cheap and a backup. They've locked up as many of those guys as they wanted to. Gostowski is a player who will command a substantial (relatively speaking since he is a PK) amount of bonus or guaranteed money. This team isn't committing to anyone in that situation they don't have to because there may not be football to play in 2011.

People here need to keep that in mind when salivating over potential FA signings in 2010. Same deal... If they aren't giving out $$$ to there own they won't be handing any out to strangers, either. About the only guy they would consider handing a bucket full of benjamins to with a potential lockout looming is TFB.

 

[DarrylS]

After watching the woeful kicking by the Bengals yesterday.... a reliable way above average kicker is a tremendous asset.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

After watching the woeful kicking by the Bengals yesterday.... a reliable way above average kicker is a tremendous asset.

The Bengals franchised him this season because apparently he'd been that guy for them for 6 years. Even this season, he was fine until last night... Of course he hadn't had many pressure situations in which to be tested but that's not his fault, they are after all the Bungles. Marvin will scapegoat him, and it's not like he doesn't deserve criticism...But the HC and the QB and the #1WR are at the core of the problem. The excuses for Carson have already started. Having thumb surgery in the off season...on his non throwing hand...Lewis was supposed to build a defense but after years of failing he lost what was always at least a dangerous offense...Ocho whats-his-name is a funny guy with a good heart but he's not a team leader and he is a consistent distraction who despite years of pleas continues to write checks he and his team can't cash... At their core they have always lacked discipline in part because they were too busy balancing egos. Last night Chad was already complaining they didn't take enough shots, even though they were only there because they ran and played good defense for most of the season...

 

[convertedpatsfan]

In the pre-season, I would have agreed. But lately kickers seem a lot like middle relievers in baseball; they're volatile. They can go from effective to useless pretty quickly, and sometimes back to effective for reasons no one seems to understand.

Look at Dallas this season. They cut a former Pro Bowler who should have been hitting his prime in Folk. He just lost it for whatever reason. Then Washington cuts Suisham because he's awful. So Dallas hires Suisham, who proceeds to make a ton of kicks for them, including some really nice ones during their playoff win yesterday. I bet Redskins fans can't believe this is the same guy that missed a short field goal that would have beat the previously-undefeated Saints.

I still think Ghost is worthy of the extension though. But I wouldn't make it a huge deal near the franchise number for kickers, even with an uncapped year.

 

[DarrylS]

The Bengals franchised him this season because apparently he'd been that guy for them for 6 years. Even this season, he was fine until last night... Of course he hadn't had many pressure situations in which to be tested but that's not his fault, they are after all the Bungles. Marvin will scapegoat him, and it's not like he doesn't deserve criticism...But the HC and the QB and the #1WR are at the core of the problem. The excuses for Carson have already started. Having thumb surgery in the off season...on his non throwing hand...Lewis was supposed to build a defense but after years of failing he lost what was always at least a dangerous offense...Ocho whats-his-name is a funny guy with a good heart but he's not a team leader and he is a consistent distraction who despite years of pleas continues to write checks he and his team can't cash... At their core they have always lacked discipline in part because they were too busy balancing egos. Last night Chad was already complaining they didn't take enough shots, even though they were only there because they ran and played good defense for most of the season...

Not blaming the kicker, just indicating the impact of a really good kicker in a championship game.. '

Have never been a Carson Palmer fan, Ocho Cinco is injured... not important.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Look at Dallas this season. They cut a former Pro Bowler who should have been hitting his prime in Folk. He just lost it for whatever reason. Then Washington cuts Suisham because he's awful. So Dallas hires Suisham, who proceeds to make a ton of kicks for them, including some really nice ones during their playoff win yesterday. I bet Redskins fans can't believe this is the same guy that missed a short field goal that would have beat the previously-undefeated Saints.

Folk had hip(?) surgery this offseason, which I think was a large part of the problem. I don't know why the Cowboys just cut him rather than putting him on IR, though.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Folk had hip(?) surgery this offseason, which I think was a large part of the problem. I don't know why the Cowboys just cut him rather than putting him on IR, though.

That's a good point. Though I can't believe they took Suisham, who was cut from the worst team in their division for missing kicks too, and he starts making everything.

Folk is still pretty young, so he should get another shot.

 

[BradyMossWelker]

I love ghost, he never misses -35 yards kicks and he is one of the best kickers in the nfl

 

[Jimke]

I'm sure that the patriots have talked with Gost's folks and will continue to do so. There is no pressure on either party to make a deal. Gost will likely getting a scond level tender and therefore $2.4M for his services in 2010. No one is going to give a 1st for a kicker. If the patriots are worried about this, they can give him a high tender of $3M and require a 1st and a 3rd. Let's be serious! We would gladly take a 1st for a kicker.

So, we will have Gost at least through the 2010 season.

There is no rush to make a deal. However, in a no-cap year, Gost and the patriots might indeed be able to come to terms.

And, just BTW, I agree that a kicker is very important and would be willing to "overpay" Gost at $3M a year for 5 years, or even a bit more.

The figure for tendering Gostkowski is not way off from what he would
earn in a contract extension. Extend him now with a modest signing
bonus. The bonus is what kept them from re-signing Vinatieri.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The figure for tendering Gostkowski is not way off from what he would
earn in a contract extension. Extend him now with a modest signing
bonus. The bonus is what kept them from re-signing Vinatieri.

Defind modest. Most of these guys want 2 years of salary as bonus money or half of their deal guaranteed. Bonus or guaranteed money is what kept them from extending Adam because they felt he was getting to the point he's been at for the last two years as a Colt. They trusted him for 2006, just not very far beyond. They did OK on the tradeoff. Maybe Bill didn't trust Gostkowski enough in 42, but he might well have been in the same situation with Adam at that juncture.

 

[Jimke]

Defind modest. Most of these guys want 2 years of salary as bonus money or half of their deal guaranteed. Bonus or guaranteed money is what kept them from extending Adam because they felt he was getting to the point he's been at for the last two years as a Colt. They trusted him for 2006, just not very far beyond. They did OK on the tradeoff. Maybe Bill didn't trust Gostkowski enough in 42, but he might well have been in the same situation with Adam at that juncture.

Didn't Adam get 3 million dollars? 3-5 million for 5 years.