Report: Patriots To Release Stephen Gostkowski

[scout]

Probably that and through the draft. Have a kicker competition.

Good article on Boston.com about releasing the Ghost and drafting a kicker. There is also insight regarding the new kicking coach.
Why the Patriots released Stephen Gostkowski, and what comes next | Boston.com

 

[Hyped]

And I just ordered my Slater jersey!

Bledsoe-->Brown-->Bruschi-->Faulk-->Brady-->Brady-->Slater!

I will miss Ghost and also thank him for his time.

 

[ALP]

Wow I thibk I remember back to when he was first drafted, a relative of his or something came on here and posted saying his old truck was for sale or something?

long time ago memory is foggy but I don’t think I’m making this up

 

[JayNM]

Great run but I honestly had to reassure myself at least once before he kicked a FG. Once that trust goes away, it's hard to comeback

 

[captain stone]

I wish gotskowski the best of luck and health in the future!

Except whenever he plays the NEP...

 

[captain stone]

True, but if we have the chance to pick up a cheap young kicker with a huge leg + experience in big game settings, I’m all for spending a 4th round pick. I’d like to see some continuity after losing Gost. Just my two cents.

Yup, the first pick of the 4th seems right. Our comp 3rds are a couple of picks away from that.

The 4th?!? round...the Fourth Feckin Round?!?...The FIRST PICK of the FOURTH FECKIN ROUND?!?

There are ZERO place-kickers in this year's draft worthy of a 4th-round selection...or a 5th-round selection... never mind the FIRST FECKIN PICK in that round...

4th-round picks are for Real Football Players.

Good Lord.

 

[captain stone]

BB has a plan, is pretty much all I need to know..

Little Billy has no plan...and if he does, his plan sucks...

 

[DarrylS]

Little Billy has no plan...and if he does, his plan sucks...

You mean the guy with 8 Superbowl rings, the guy who lead this team out of a dark abyss to the light, the guy who made all my waiting for a decent run worth every minute of it..

Always find it interesting the amount of vitriol for Mr. Kraft and BB that is usually displayed on this board.. it borders on humorous, maybe you had to enjoy the follies of the early 90's to fully appreciate the chaos that existed for the team who played at Schaefer Stadium. Many fans never enjoyed the football wisdom and savvy of Victor Kiam.

Then there was the chaos that usually occurred during the 70's & 80's.. be thankful for what has happened in the past 20 years..

 

[VJCPatriot]

It's the end of an era. Gostkowski has been a great servant to the team but he really did look cooked last year and we had months of replacement kickers. I expect BB to address this position through the draft. Thank you for your service and the memories.

 

[Deus Irae]

You mean the guy with 8 Superbowl rings, the guy who lead this team out of a dark abyss to the light, the guy who made all my waiting for a decent run worth every minute of it..

Always find it interesting the amount of vitriol for Mr. Kraft and BB that is usually displayed on this board.. it borders on humorous, maybe you had to enjoy the follies of the early 90's to fully appreciate the chaos that existed for the team who played at Schaefer Stadium. Many fans never enjoyed the football wisdom and savvy of Victor Kiam.

Then there was the chaos that usually occurred during the 70's & 80's.. be thankful for what has happened in the past 20 years..

Dude, Belichick was 5-13 until Brady took over. Brady, not Belichick is "the guy who lead this team out of a dark abyss to the light, the guy who made all my waiting for a decent run worth every minute of it.."

Noting that is not spewing vitriol towards Kraft or BB.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I am convinced that the main (if not only) reason why Billy didn't send out the FG unit was because Gostkowski's 2nd-quarter kickoff, after the Pats scored their first TD, sailed OOB and gave the Vagiants excellent starting field position (not that they really did anything with it)...

...Billy then "punished" Gostkowski (sound familiar?) by trying to convert a 4th/12 (which actually should've happened: Welker was Wide Open in the right flat while Brady was eye-balling a well-covered Gaffney in the corner of the EZ) instead of attempting a 48/49-yard FG in perfect conditions.

I think the handling of the Welker thing prior to the Jets disaster on 1/16/11 belongs on the list of BB mistakes.

In his defense, it's REALLY hard as a head coach to gauge the psyche of a team at any time. There's too much going on, too much detail and responsibility to know. He has had success imposing inspirational, motivating bulletin board material.

His successes outnumber the boners.

 

[scout]

I think the handling of the Welker thing prior to the Jets disaster on 1/16/11 belongs on the list of BB mistakes.

In his defense, it's REALLY hard as a head coach to gauge the psyche of a team at any time. There's too much going on, too much detail and responsibility to know. He has had success imposing inspirational, motivating bulletin board material.

His successes outnumber the boners.

A loss of one game (Welker benching) is why the Patriots were a dynasty for 20 years.

 

[1960Pats]

On turf.

Indoors.

Less than fifty yards.

In a close game.

With everything on the line.

Ghost was fine.

Not hurt.

Healthy.

Active.


All this went through my mind at the time, along with the cardinal rule of football:

Don't ever take points off the scoreboard

...which is what you do to yourself when you pass up an easily makeable field goal in favor of a fourth down and needlessly improbable.

My hand started cramping from scrolling through that post. It's tough to get old.

I liked SG more than AV. SG was longer and more accurate. There can't be any team better at K. And to top it off we had Robbie Gould and would have kept him if not for AV.

GOAT kicking.

GOAT QB.

GOAT TE.

GOAT HC.

GOATs up the ying yang.

Someone pinch me. Did all of those 20 years really happen?

 

[patman12]

Dude, Belichick was 5-13 until Brady took over. Brady, not Belichick is "the guy who lead this team out of a dark abyss to the light, the guy who made all my waiting for a decent run worth every minute of it.."

Noting that is not spewing vitriol towards Kraft or BB.

It's not vitriol but it is throwing some shade.

 

[fnordcircle]

Other than a few injury based moments here and there we've really only had 2 starting QBs and 2 starting Ks since 1994.

That's truly insane.

 

[1960Pats]

In Aaron Rodgers first year as a starter he threw for over 4000 yds, and 28 tds/13 ints. That would have to be considered a YUGE win for Stidham if he could do that. The Packers went 6-10 that year. The good news is they won the SB 2 years later. The bad news is they haven’t been back. This is how the rest of the NFL lives. Welcome.

A lot of posters here **** on Aaron Rodgers routinely. He has been AMAZING basically from the get go. People are not ready for what’s coming. They’re talking about winning the division. Whole league is gunning for an undermanned Pats squad. They are going to be on the wrong side of some disturbing beatdowns. I’m fine with it, time to rebuild with TB gone and all that, but some tempered expectations are in order. Some of the stuff you read here is hilarious.

I don't think there are many fans here who are boasting at all. I think most of us know that the Pats could be in for a rough year. Then again, they do have BB at the helm and a pretty good defense.

As for Rodgers, I'm not as much of a fan. He should have had a better career by now and his lack of comebacks against decent teams hurts him.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

My hand started cramping from scrolling through that post. It's tough to get old.

I liked SG more than AV. SG was longer and more accurate. There can't be any team better at K. And to top it off we had Robbie Gould and would have kept him if not for AV.

GOAT kicking.

GOAT QB.

GOAT TE.

GOAT HC.

GOATs up the ying yang.

Someone pinch me. Did all of those 20 years really happen?

GOAT Modern Dynasty

GOAT OL (Hog)

GOAT Logo & Uniforms (until 1993)

GOAT Fans (in all modesty)

GOAT Rags to Riches story

[CVS has wrist wraps for that CTS. Sorry.]

 

[Deus Irae]

It's not vitriol but it is throwing some shade.

No, it's not. It's acknowledging the truth of the situation. It doesn't mean that BB isn't a great coach. It doesn't mean that Kraft didn't do a good job as the owner helping get everything in place. It just means that the key cog in the machine was Brady. He was the switch flipper. He was the light bringer. From 5-11 and 0-2 to 11-3 and a SB run.


And that should be easy to see for even the willfully blind.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Other than a few injury based moments here and there we've really only had 2 starting QBs and 2 starting Ks since 1994.

That's truly insane.

Other than a few injury based moments here and there we've really only had 2 starting QBs since 1993, and 2 starting Ks since 1996. [fixed.]

 

[fnordcircle]

Other than a few injury based moments here and there we've really only had 2 starting QBs since 1993, and 2 starting Ks since 1996. [fixed.]

The red and white uniforms sucked.