Stephen Gostkowski a prime candidate for the franchise tag?
Stephen Gostkowski enters the 2019 offseason as an unrestricted free agent, and he could be an ideal candidate to receive the franchise tag.
The Patriots are set to have one of their most eventful offseasons in recent years. With 20 unrestricted free agents, four restricted free agents, potential retirements to consider, and the draft all upcoming, New England has its hands full as the calendar moves ever closer to spring.
Stephen Gostkowski is one of those unrestricted free agents the Patriots will have to ponder. The reliable veteran has been with the team since Bill Belichick drafted him way back in 2006. Over the course of those 13 years since, Gostkowski has evolved into more than just a seamless successor to Adam Vinatieri – he’s also one of the best kickers in the NFL today, and in league history. His 87.38% success rate on field goals is third-best all-time behind Baltimore’s Justin Tucker (90.11%) and San Francisco’s Robbie Gould (87.74%).
On the flip side, he’s also 35 years old. While age is less important for kickers than it is for any other position in the physical NFL, it’s still a factor the Patriots must consider when determining how best they want to move forward with Gostkowski. Common sense and practicality would usually suggest the team contemplate drafting a younger kicker to at least challenge Gostkowski for reps and throughout training camp and the preseason.
Still, Gostkowski is a known commodity – a rarity in today’s professional sports – and the Patriots might be understandably a bit wary about the prospect of life without him. If that is indeed the case, they could always give him the franchise tag – supposedly valued at around $6 million this year – and put off long-term contract discussions till this time next year.
The team has franchised Gostkowski once before, back in 2005; although they did work out a four-year extension not long after. Belichick also tagged Vinatieri twice while he was still playing for the Patriots, so it’s not as if the move is completely unprecedented in New England football history.
ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter at least seems to think the rumors about Gostkowski getting the franchise tag from the Patriots might be coming to fruition sooner rather than later. He tweeted out his thoughts on exactly which players were linked to the tag on Tuesday.
Starting today and until March 5, there could be at least 10 players receiving some form of a tag: DeMarcus Lawrence, Jadeveon Clowney, Dee Ford, Frank Clark, Gardy Jarrett, Landon Collins, Nick Foles, Le’Veon Bell, Donovan Smith, Robbie Gould and Stephen Gostkowski, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2019
Next. Trent Brown mulling all his options entering free agency. dark
Gostkowski is absolutely deserving of a new contract in New England. Now it’s just a matter of whether the team can get one done in time, or if the tag is used as a sort of stop-gap along the way.
If Schefter and his sources are to be believed, it’s looking increasingly like the latter might be the case.