Patriots hosting FA kickers following Stephen Gostkowski’s struggles
In a rare New England sight, the Patriots worked out some (yet unidentified) free agent kickers on Wednesday. Is Stephen Gostkowski’s job in jeopardy?
The NFL has seen several memorable kicking tryouts over the last year, from the Chicago Bears’ attempts to hit a 43-yard field goal in the offseason, to the Minnesota Vikings’ eternal struggle to commit to any kicker at all. However, no one expected the Patriots to be a part of the trend.
Yet according to a Wednesday tweet by ESPN reporter Mike Reiss, some free agent kickers visited New England to vie for the chance to make a spot on the roster.
The Patriots are working out some free-agent kickers today, which is consistent with their due-diligence approach at all positions to keep emergency lists updated. Veteran Stephen Gostkowski has missed four P.A.T.s this year, which adds a layer of context to the kicker workouts.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 2, 2019
Coach Bill Belichick is notorious for taking special teams play very seriously, holding onto good punters and star special teamers like Matthew Slater. Placekickers have been perhaps the Patriots’ most impressive and consistent position on the team; if you don’t count Shayne Graham’s games replacing an injured Stephen Gostkowski in 2010, the Pats have only fielded two kickers in two decades.
The first was Adam Vinatieri, an accurate, clutch kicker who’s still active at the ancient age of 46. Stephen Gostkowski filled his shoes in 2006 and has arguably fit those shoes even better, hovering in the top-five list for best all-time field goal percentage throughout his 13-year career.
However, this season has been surprisingly rough for the 35-year-old. Field goals themselves haven’t been the issue (he’s 7-of-8, with the one miss being on the longer side); the problem has actually been the extra point attempts.
Out of 15 extra point attempts so far, Gostkowski has missed four… which, at 73% accuracy, is a dreadful rate to keep up. It’s a bit surprising, in part because the kicker was red-hot in the face of the 2015 rule change that moved the extra point back to 33 yards. That year, Gostkowski hit 52 of 52 extra point attempts and secured the all-time record for most consecutive XPs made.
However, his first miss came on a pivotal game-tying kick in that year’s AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos… which unfortunately ended up costing the Patriots the game in the long run.
Since then, he’s been shakier with those extra points despite the extra experience. He made 93% of his XPs the following year, which led many to believe he had the colloquial “yips” from the memory of missing the kick in Denver.
The playoffs continued to be a struggle for Gostkowski as well, missing three XPs in the 2016 and 2017 postseasons.
2018 was a great year for his XPs with only one miss, but his field goal accuracy was only at 84%. Given his challenges this year and the arrival of free-agent kickers in Foxboro, should we wonder about his future with the team?
I think so.
Gostkowski shouldn’t panic yet, as every player can go through a bad stretch. I’d be pretty shocked if he received the ax this week or next week. That being said, the next few games are pivotal for him. Bill Belichick is a coach who won’t hesitate to cut a weak link, and even a 13-year veteran shouldn’t feel safe if he begins to under-perform.
If Gostkowski rebounds and is nearly 100% accurate through the next 4-5 games, his job will stay secure and Pats Nation will brush off his early-season struggles as a nervous streak. However, if Belichick finds someone in these free-agent kicker tryouts that looks excellent, a few more missed kicks in October could possibly wind up costing Gostkowski a lot more than points.
It’ll be interesting to see which free agents the Pats are trying out; veterans like former L.A. Charger Nick Novak and former Atlanta Falcon Giorgio Tavecchio are still on the market. The team seems to prefer grabbing kickers/punters while they’re young, but we’ll see if any moves are made to sign someone who knows the league well.
As of right now, the reason the Pats are holding tryouts is probably to sign a backup with the cap space they created by recently cutting players like wide receiver Cameron Meredith. However, with more misses from Gostkowski, that backup could receive a promotion down the road.
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Ultimately, the future is up to Stephen Gostkowski himself. Bill Belichick is a man of numbers, and the only way to impress him is by keeping them high.
UPDATE – Stephen Gostkowski is reportedly heading to injured reserve as of Wednesday.