Vinatieri would be great pickup
09:34 AM CST on Friday, March 17, 2006
IRVING – If the Cowboys had a decent kicker last season, they most likely would have finished 11-5 and won the NFC East. Without a kicker, they finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. They burned through Jose Cortez, Billy Cundiff and Shaun Suisham, bringing Suisham back for the final week of the season after Cundiff’s case of the shanks in Carolina.
Owner-general manager Jerry Jones said the Cowboys will have a veteran kicker on the roster. He does not want to subject a rookie or inexperienced kicker to the stares of Bill Parcells.
After all, the coach plays mind games on his kickers – and punters.
Free agency is less than a week old and the Cowboys are still waiting for a kicker. Their top target, Matt Bryant, re-signed with Tampa Bay, getting around $1 million per season. Minnesota brought in Ryan Longwell from Green Bay with a $3 million signing bonus and a five-year, $10 million deal. Joe Nedney re-signed with San Francisco.
That leaves the Cowboys with New England’s Adam Vinatieri, Indianapolis’ Mike Vanderjagt, Minnesota’s Paul Edinger and possibly Miami’s Olindo Mare, if the Dolphins cut him.
The Cowboys do not want to set the market on a kicker, which is what it would take to sign Vinatieri. Vanderjagt is a mystery for a variety of reasons and was once called the “idiot kicker” by Peyton Manning. Edinger kicked in horrible conditions in Chicago early in his career, but he is not consistent.
If the Cowboys can get Mare, they must do it. Besides Arizona’s Neil Rackers, he is the best kickoff man in the game, and we all know how Parcells values kickoffs. He is also a clutch kicker. His numbers have slipped some recently, but he has gone through snappers and holders and Dolphins Stadium is home to swirling conditions.
But let’s go back to Vinatieri. What the Cowboys should do is sign him.
He first made a name for himself at Texas Stadium, tracking down Herschel Walker on a kickoff return. He made his second name by kicking game-deciding field goals in the Patriots’ three Super Bowl victories.
If it takes $3 million a year, give it to him.
Two years ago, the Cowboys got caught in free agency at cornerback. They did not want to shell out $10 million a year to corners they didn’t think were worth the money. Well, that was the price they were going for, and they paid dearly for it, running Pete Hunter, Tyrone Williams, Lance Frazier and Jacques Reeves out there.
They wised up last year by signing Anthony Henry and giving him a mega-bonus. He cemented the right corner spot.
Because games in the NFL are so close, an accurate, pressure-averse kicker is a must. Billy Cundiff had his moments (see NY Giants, 2003), but he was not automatic. The way Parcells coaches begs for a strong kicker.
Vinatieri seems to be automatic, but was 20-for-25 last year, good for 80 percent, which is Parcells’ magic number. Two years ago, he made 31 of 33 kicks.
When the Cowboys were hampered a few years ago by poor long snapping, Jones went out and paid Jeff Robinson an average of $1 million a year, a whopping figure for a long snapper, but their problems were gone.
Spending $3 million a year might be a lot of money, but the Cowboys certainly have the room and certainly have the need.
Unfortunately for them, the market might dry up, just like it did for the cornerbacks in 2004.
