who will be the new Patriot kicker ?

[VrabelMayeWin]

I know you think this is a dime a dozen replacement scenario.

Actually, I don't. I am fairly sure we'll have a downgraded kicker this year. The dime a dozen part comes in his replacement, I'm not in a hurry to spend $1.5M on Edinger just because we've heard of him vs. vet or rookie minimum for some guy we haven't heard of. Edingers are a dime a dozen IMO.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Whatever happened to the possiblity of using a poison pill in an offer to get Seattle's kicker before that loophole gets closed? Or is that too slimey a move for the Krafts?

Slimey for the league at this point. They are in the process of closing the loophole and only let the second one go through because it was payback. The commissioner has probably let the others know enough is enough and he won't let another one pass muster for the good of the league.

The other problem with Brown is he is not a cold weather kicker. The Pats would have to offer him a pretty substantial deal or the Seahawks would likely match it. Dallas reportedly talked to him but no offer he would sign was made. Kid might not even want to attempt coming here from a long range career standpoint. He's kicking well in Seattle and the AFC West and is a FA next season. The Razor is a tough environment to kick in consistently and will be a tougher house to kick in initially for Vinatieri's replacement. And the Pats may prefer to let a JAG kicker face the potential abuse rather than expose a college kicker to that atmosphere. Although I'm not sure that's a winning football strategy for 2006.

 

[fgssand]

This is a great post and maybe we need to "sticky" it until we have a new kicker all settled.

One thing I think we all need to take the pledge about - NO MORE mention of our former kicker. We will drive ourselves nuts if we compare every possible new kicker to the guy that used to kick here and the deal that went sour. We will go bonkers if we keep this up all season comparing the new guy to the old guy and BB was wrong and we should have paid this... blah blah blah.

It's over, he's gone and a new day is upon us. We will have a new kicker here and something tells me he just might make a field goal or three this year.

I pledge to never bring up our former kickers name, unless it is to discuss the three Championships he was a part of, not the upcoming ones that he will miss out on

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Actually, I don't. I am fairly sure we'll have a downgraded kicker this year. The dime a dozen part comes in his replacement, I'm not in a hurry to spend $1.5M on Edinger just because we've heard of him vs. vet or rookie minimum for some guy we haven't heard of. Edingers are a dime a dozen IMO.

what are we gonna do?

Kickers are a dime a dozen, we'll bring a few in that we've probably never heard of, let them compete, and probably get a fine season out of whoever we go with.

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you...

 

[Pats726]

What about the team keeping 2 kickers..a vet and a young kicker..maybe one doing kickoffs. Also the way to eas the young one into things as opposed to getting into AV's shoes right off.

 

[Dank Franklin]

Is Kathy Ireland still making kicks?

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you...

I didn't say "kickers like Vinatieri are a dime a dozen". At this point I would let minimum salary guys compete. And we'll have a downgraded kicker - but also at a downgraded price.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I didn't say "kickers like Vinatieri are a dime a dozen". At this point I would let minimum salary guys compete. And we'll have a downgraded kicker - but also at a downgraded price.

Well since we're sitting on almost $20M in cap space, and elite kickers count for more points scored than any player on the field, and we tend to win a high percentage of our games (not to mention all of our championships) by 6 points or less, and we tend to play a field position game by nature even when we do trust our defense - I guess I just don't see either the logic in that thinking or the value in that approach.

Ditto carrying 2 PK on the roster of a team that places a premium on carying quality depth on offense and defense - and usually needing it.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Well since we're sitting on almost $20M in cap space . . . I guess I just don't see either the logic in that thinking or the value in that approach.

I wouldn't say I see the logic either but the offseason isn't over yet. Plus we would be locking in to 2+M a year for 3 or so years with lots of big time guys to sign.

Can I sit here now and say that the money will be better spent than on Vinatieri ? Nope. But if we start signing our upcoming UFAs or trade for a veteran or two, things might become clearer.

 

[ilduce06410]

shucking and jiving

I know you think this is a dime a dozen replacement scenario. If it were the Pats brilliant FO would have likely let AV go several million dollars and a few franchise tags ago. In hindsight it appears they wanted to retain him, were even willing to pay him the money - they just played contract hardball a tad too long and it apparently soured the player to the point he unfortunately called their bluff and moved on without giving them a chance to reluctantly match the deal they for some reason didn't anticipate he'd see.

my thoughts too.
i posted about this in feb. patriots FO seems to think they can do everything at THEIR pace, not to take advantage of situations. they also seem to believe they can get things done at their price, because that's what they have budgeted. like keyshawn said, "i can go to new england if i want to play for 5 dollars." IMO that wasn't an idle comment.
so they diddled around with AV.
apparently there's not enough warmth coming out of the patriot offices for AV to say, "aaah, give'em another week. i know they want me here, they'll get to it."

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

i posted about this in feb. patriots FO seems to think they can do everything at THEIR pace, not to take advantage of situations. they also seem to believe they can get things done at their price, because that's what they have budgeted.

Well, we have gotten two players, Caldwell and Winfield, at next to nothing and they both could be legitimite contributors. There's lots of offseason left.