Official Free Agency 2018

[Joey007]

To save cap space.

Did he have that big of a cap hit?

 

[supafly]

Did he have that big of a cap hit?

I think it was around 2.9m or something, although I just skimmed the article so don’t quote me. Obviously, they’ll save about 2m dollars or so.

 

[Joey007]

I think it was around 2.9m or something, although I just skimmed the article so don’t quote me. Obviously, they’ll save about 2m dollars or so.

They’ll have to acquire a new punter though. And despite the antics he was a pretty damn good punter.

 

[Uptown]

 

[patsinthesnow]

Reiss has hinted at Vaccaro for awhile. Maybe he’s signed for cheap post-draft or whenever the safeties cave in to their terrible market.

 

[mgteich]

They’ll have to acquire a new punter though. And despite the antics he was a pretty damn good punter.

they probably can get the best punter in college football for a 6th and below vet minimum pay. For some teams, saving $2M is important, even for teams like Oakland that value specialists as much as anyone.

 

[Deus Irae]

they probably can get the best punter in college football for a 6th and below vet minimum pay. For some teams, saving $2M is important, even for teams like Oakland that value specialists as much as anyone.

Oakland has plenty of room under the cap. This was not a need move.

 

[Joey007]

Oakland has plenty of room under the cap. This was not a need move.

Gotta think it was purely a locker room decision.

 

[mgteich]

Oakland has plenty of room under the cap. This was not a need move.

fair enough

But perhaps OAK has better use for $2M of their $16M of cap space. What if they wish to consider trading for Kendricks or someone else. I wouldn't say that they have PLENTY of cap space, unless you know their plans and options.

After all, one play could take up all the usable space. Besides, some teams actually decide the best value for the cap space. Perhaps, OAK would rather pass it on to 2019 than use that much on a punter, or on this punter. It is a better of value. How much more than the best 1-3 punters in the NCAA is he worth?

 

[captain stone]

The Raiders cut their punter, King. That guy has a leg.

Sign the Beast, Bill...NOW!

 

[maineman209]

Sign the Beast, Bill...NOW!

But, is he left-footed?

 

[captain stone]

Frankly I don't give a damn from what foot he kicks. I'm tired of Ryan Allen's inconsistent play. One time he'll kick a very rare 50-yarder, then he'll follow-up with 3 times of under-40-yards. The boy has cost us field position too many times for too long.

 

[maineman209]

Frankly I don't give a damn from what foot he kicks. I'm tired of Ryan Allen's inconsistent play. One time he'll kick a very rare 50-yarder, then he'll follow-up with 3 times of under-40-yards. The boy has cost us field position too many times for too long.

Patriots opponents have consistently been in the bottom five in starting FP (typically inside their own 25). Since the Pats kick off around 100 times/season and punt around 70 times/season, if Allen's "short punts" were costing significant FP "too often", it seems like it would have to show up in that stat.

Meanwhile, the Pat offense has been pretty consistently in the top five in starting FP (their own 30+). Since they also rarely go 3-and-out, Allen rarely needs to punt the ball very far, especially if he's trying to pin opponents inside their own 20.

Allen has been consistently among the top 5-6 punters in percentage of punts downed inside the 20 (punts need to drop inside the 20 to be downed inside the 20). His combined touchback + punts-returned percentage has also been among the five lowest.

"Yards per punt" might be the useless gross stat ever. It's meaningless for comparing punters. Punters on teams whose offenses frequently start in a hole (and then fail to climb very far out of it) will always have more yards per punt. The Pats aren't one of those teams.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Frankly I don't give a damn from what foot he kicks. I'm tired of Ryan Allen's inconsistent play. One time he'll kick a very rare 50-yarder, then he'll follow-up with 3 times of under-40-yards. The boy has cost us field position too many times for too long.

The most important aspect of punting is not yardage distance.

 

[maineman209]

The most important aspect of punting is not yardage distance.

Distance control, direction, hang-time ...

 

[RobertWeathers]

Distance control, direction, hang-time ...

Yep!

I do think it is hard to judge how good a punter really is as it is so situational.

What I do know is NE was 4th in punt return ave allowed and % of punts downed inside the 20. That tells me Allen is not out-kicking his coverage and the cover team is in position to make a tackle or down the ball very often.

I have no problems with Allen.

 

[maineman209]

Yep!

I do think it is hard to judge how good a punter really is as it is so situational.

What I do know is NE was 4th in punt return ave allowed and % of punts downed inside the 20. That tells me Allen is not out-kicking his coverage and the cover team is in position to make a tackle or down the ball very often.

I have no problems with Allen.

Among full time punters in 2017, the fewest punts were made by Bosher (53, ATL) and Allen (58). The Falcons' offense turned the ball over six more times than the Pats did, which also has an effect on opponent starting FP. Average starting FP for ATL's opponents was the 29 (14th best in the league).

Brad Wing (NYG) and Lachlan Edwards (NYJ) had the most punts - 95 and 94, respectively. They were also 2nd and 3rd in most yards per punt. Bth teams also had relatively high turnover rates - 11.3% of the Gints, 10.3% for the Jetes (compared to 6.9% for the Pats), and had relatively poor opponent starting FP numbers.

There are a lot of variables that can affect the simplistic stats that ESPN and most sites track.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

King had back to back game where he received 15 yard penalties, which for a punter, is really stupid. PFT says Gruden just didn't like his 'tude. King can boom some punts, but I think the belief here is that he might be too much trouble than he is worth. I'm guessing as a punter, that sliding scale (headaches vs. talent) is a lot less than say WR.

The last thing you want to see is your punter pinned someone deep, and then they start at the 20 because he got an unsportsmanlike penalty for celebrating his punt too much. I think BB would cut the punter on the spot if that happened in NE.

BUT check out these highlights, if he can keep his dancing down, he is a helluva punter

 

[captain stone]

I'm not basing my opinion of Allen on statistics, which I also know can be misleading.

I'm basing my opinion of Allen on my eyeballs, which have too often told me that when we needed a big kick to bail us out or to pin the opponent, he didn't deliver.

 

[maust]

I'm not basing my opinion of Allen on statistics, which I also know can be misleading.

I'm basing my opinion of Allen on my eyeballs, which have too often told me that when we needed a big kick to bail us out or to pin the opponent, he didn't deliver.

Respectfully disagree, my eyeball test tells me something very different but I can understand where you are coming from. I think most anyone that's more than a casual fan realizes stats as a whole are misleading when evaluating a punter. Playing for a suck team means a lot of attempts & yards but an anemic offense gives a punter a lesser likelihood to down balls inside the 20 or suffer a TB given where he's usually kicking from. Conversely playing on a team with a potent offense generally means a punter isn't kicking for distance so much as trying to prevent a return and avoiding a TB. We expect very different things from a punter than Browns, Bears or Jete fans who are all just praying for distance do. Then there's where they play their home games to consider, a dome/good weather punter has an inherent advantage over a bad weather one although they aren't going to get the occasional wind aided 70 yarder either . The same apples to oranges type comparison makes median averages as a point of comparison superfluous as well. So in many respects it comes down to what sticks in our heads, for me it's how few punt returns of any distance or consequence I see result from Allen's efforts and in my mind's eye he's a good punter. Of course that argument could be countered somewhat by pointing out he is the beneficiary of an outstanding coverage unit, to which I'd say he is a big part of the reason they are that good and round and round we'd go.