Pats should consider extending Gostkowski, not replacing him

[manxman2601]

Not to mention the fact that Goskowski holds a higher made FG percentage than Vinateri, especially on 50+ yarders where it's not even close. Gostkowski is the much better kicker for the longer range FG's and has one of the highest accuracy rates for any kicker all-time (IIRC). I thought for sure that he was in the top 5, but I could be mistaken.

The point that you made about Gostkowski being much more effective than Vinetari in terms of long kickoffs to help with field position is also very important to Bill Belichick.

Either way you look at it, both kickers are very effective but the opportunity to take a cheap rookie deal with a draft pick just couldn't be passed up by Belichick. Decisions like that are very comparable to what we saw with Mesko this year, as it saved almost a full million dollars against the cap.

Gost is actually no 8 all time at 85.590% but the top three have only been in the league for two to three years. There is also only one retired kicker above Gostkowski in Mike Vanderjagt so field goal accuracy does seem to be a modern phenomenon.

NFL Career Field Goal % Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[Gumby]

AV wanted WAY TOO MUCH $$ and had WAY TOO WEAK a leg to play in the AFC EAST outdoor conditions 8 games a year.

AFC South and Indy's dome makes his stats look a little better and the Patriots decision to NOT OVERPAY The man not as clear; but IMO they made the best decision at the time AND so did AV.

He went on to get another SB ring and to extend his career in a dome. He is currently the NFL's OLDEST player (if the espn(?) story I read yesterday was true); so he got everything he wanted.

Also I think as HOF committee views kickers; if he had stuck around on Patriots he would have 0% chance of ever getting into HOF. That he went to SB with 2 different teams; gives him a potential argument to squeek in as one of the few kickers to be selected.

So he had every motivation to leave and little to stay.

Pats would have had to overpay what indy was offering to keep him. we would have suffered in other areas-depth as a result.

He was already not kicking any deeper than the 5-10 consistently, that would only be worse in outdoor conditions. TODAY that doesnt make as much of a difference; BECAUSE THE NFL SHORTENED THE KICKOFFs (2012) and he is in a Dome - so he can still make a number of touchbacks. In retrospect; if the kickoff out to the 35 change was made in 2005; it might have made sense to keep him; but otherwise I just cant see any rationale that it made sense for Patriots to pay as much as he wanted to keep him.

 

[Gronkandez]

According to what some people on this board say, if you criticize a player and then that player starts doing really well, then you "owe that player an apology."

Stephen, I owe you an apology. After you missed that AZ kick last year and a couple of others I was down on you. Clearly it was wrong of me to be critical and I'm sorry.

Can someone please forward this directly to Stephen or does this post fulfill my apology requirements? Not really sure how this works.

 

[SalemPats]

I like Gostowski, but he's a kicker, i would rather spend the money elsewhere if he wants too much

 

[Ivan]

According to what some people on this board say, if you criticize a player and then that player starts doing really well, then you "owe that player an apology."

Stephen, I owe you an apology. After you missed that AZ kick last year and a couple of others I was down on you. Clearly it was wrong of me to be critical and I'm sorry.

Can someone please forward this directly to Stephen or does this post fulfill my apology requirements? Not really sure how this works.

Actually what I said was props to AZ for owning it when he was wrong, something most of you guys never do, you just trash the player when they are off for a while and then act like you loved them long time when they play well again. It's kneejerk fandom at its worst and it has been the prevalent approach in this forum for some time now.

I never said anything about issuing anyone an apology but feel free to try and show that I did.

 

[Gronkandez]

Actually what I said was props to AZ for owning it when he was wrong, something most of you guys never do, you just trash the player when they are off for a while and then act like you loved them long time when they play well again. It's kneejerk fandom at its worst and it has been the prevalent approach in this forum for some time now.

I never said anything about issuing anyone an apology but feel free to try and show that I did.

I didn't read the other posts in this thread, I was commenting on previous threads from earlier in the year after SG looked shaky in one of the early games.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

While we're on the subject, what would your personal opinion be for his improvement this year? Is it simply coincidental due to the fact that he did pretty damn well already? Did he have an issue that maybe he had to work through?

The only reason I ask is because you've always been a major supporter of him, so I'd be curious in hearing your opinion. I know that we don't have much to go on, but have you ever considered the holding aspect? It seemed that earlier in the year Allen was able to dig a couple of balls out and that received major praise from Gostkowski. We hear of good rapport/chemistry with centers/QB's and QB's/WR's, so do you think that there is any chance whatsoever that Allen is able to get the ball placed where Gost likes it a little better than Mesko was able to do?

I'm guessing that it's just coincidental myself, and that he may have turned it up in TC/practice/off season routine a bit to try and overcome some of his sporadic issues from the past couple of seasons.

I'm not Doug Blevins , so I can't really comment on how good Allen's holding has been relative to Mesko's, or whether perhaps the problem is from Aiken.

That said, based on my comments re: kickers often peaking in their mid-30s, I suspect it's primarily a matter of experience and learning how to adjust to conditions. Gostkowski talked about it a little bit in this article.

I think there is something to it; overall, over the last three seasons, kickers have an 82% conversion rate during the first half, but around an 87% conversion rate during the second half. [It's not merely an artifact of conservative kicking; even if you account for distance, the success rate still goes up.]

In particular, Gostkowski has been outstanding after halftime; he's only made 80% of his first-half kicks, but about 96% of his second-half/OT kicks over the last three seasons.

 

[supafly]

Gost is actually no 8 all time at 85.590% but the top three have only been in the league for two to three years. There is also only one retired kicker above Gostkowski in Mike Vanderjagt so field goal accuracy does seem to be a modern phenomenon.

NFL Career Field Goal % Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Yes, I'm sorry I meant for the franchise. It was poorly worded.

 

[varjao]

Cut that useless Mathew Slater and give his money to Gostspace.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Cut that useless Mathew Slater and give his money to Gostspace.

He might leave as a free agent in 2015, but I don't see BB cutting him before then.

 

[IllegalContact]

You have an odd definition of everybody.

figure of speech.....there was enough of that around here to figuratively say that

 

[lurker1965]

Food for thought. . . .

Gostkowski's cap hit in 2014 is currently $3.8M.

A four-year extension that gives him 4 years and $15M-$16M total in new money could potentially reduce his 2014 cap hit to about $2.2M-$2.3M. [By comparison, his 2010 extension gave him $14M in new money over four years.]

OTOH, replacing Gostkowski would result in $800K of dead money plus whatever they pay his replacement, or at least $1.2M total.

I agree.

Just thought you might laugh at my origional misreading of your tittle, and thinking that they just extended Gronkowski.

 

[Jackson 2]

According to what some people on this board say, if you criticize a player and then that player starts doing really well, then you "owe that player an apology."

Stephen, I owe you an apology. After you missed that AZ kick last year and a couple of others I was down on you. Clearly it was wrong of me to be critical and I'm sorry.

Can someone please forward this directly to Stephen or does this post fulfill my apology requirements? Not really sure how this works.

You are nearly forgiven, my son. Four Our Fathers, three Hail Marys and two Acts of Contrition should do it. Yours in Christ, Father Guido Sarducci.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Love your contributions Pherein, but you're off here. Vinatieri made the field goals that won the first two Super Bowls, and that can never be taken away. But Gostkowski never really provided the moment to regret not having Vinatieri. Also he has mostly been the more productive of the two throughout Vinatieri's tenure as a Colt, during which time Vinatieri has been highly paid, at times injured, and (pre-rule change) necessitated a kickoff specialist because his kickoffs in a dome were so poor.

His rookie season Gostkowski drilled a big 50 yarder in San Diego, then hit the game winner to help upset a 14-2 team on the road. Vinatieri was an excellent Patriots kicker, the best they've ever had. I have the utmost confidence that Gostkowski would knock down those kicks in a Super Bowl if given the chance as well.

AV was a vital piece in ALL 3 of the SB wins, not just 2. I'm a huge Gost fan and always have been, but the one instance I can never get over was during the 1st SB against the Giants and BB decided to go for it on a 4th down rather than having Gost attempt what I believe was a 50+ yard field goal and wondering "what if" we still had AV, would BB have attempted that kick or what if he had just given Gost the chance? The part that torments me is that I agree with your sentiment and still believe Gost would've nailed it and changed the whole outcome of that SB.

Besides, when TB finally decides to ride off into the sunset is probably when the Pats will have that long-coveted, unstoppable defense that will prevent teams from scoring more than 14 points a game and the Pats will rely on Gost kicking a field goal within 50 yards for every possession.

 

[Ring 6]

According to what some people on this board say, if you criticize a player and then that player starts doing really well, then you "owe that player an apology."

Stephen, I owe you an apology. After you missed that AZ kick last year and a couple of others I was down on you. Clearly it was wrong of me to be critical and I'm sorry.

Can someone please forward this directly to Stephen or does this post fulfill my apology requirements? Not really sure how this works.

A lot of posters on this board has a great talent for inserting hope and potential into assessing a player.

 

[Ring 6]

figure of speech.....there was enough of that around here to figuratively say that

There were a select few, mostly those who always complain about something and for a while Gostkowski was their flavor of the day. Your comments portray that as a consensus, and it was no where in the universe of that.