Should The New England Patriots Use The Franchise Tag In 2015?

Nov 30, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski (3) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Gostkowski

Patriots fans know how important a good kicker is to a winning football team, and Gostkowski is as good as they get. He was money in 2014, draining 35 of 37 field goal attempts, including a ridiculous 13-14 from behind 40 yards. When you need a kick to be made, regardless of the situation, Gostkowski will come through. He hasn’t gotten the opportunity to show off his clutch kicking skills like Adam Vinatieri did, but I am confident that if he needed to, Gostkowski would pull off anything Vinatieri did in his time with the Pats.

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When it comes to getting a contract nailed down, we haven’t heard much from this situation, although I would bet my life that the Patriots view re-signing Gostkowski as their third priority behind Revis and McCourty. You can put all the money you want in a perfect offense, and perfect defense, but if you’re down 3 at the 30 yard-line with 1 second left, you don’t want to skimp on the kicker.

I feel like Gostkowski won’t get the tag, but only because New England will work out a long-term deal with him over the coming weeks. Of course there is always the chance they tag him just to give them time to work out a deal, although if that is the course they choose, I sure as hell hope they are able to bring McCourty back as well.