manxman2601
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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