Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko

Knowing how the #Patriots do business I find it hard to believe they have a kicker on their team with a 3.5 million dollar cap number

try to restructure if he refuses then cut him...

YEs. Get a new kicker who can boot it our of the end zones. he is a big liability on special teams, and crucial game situations.

In response to Godvernment's comment:

i to suggested this before the end of seAson

In response to kansaspatriot's comment:

+1...

 

Not a fan of Ghost at all..

In response to HOTBLITZ's comment:

I agree. Especially not for that kind of money. 

In response to xXR3S1NXx's comment:

Kind of hard to believe Ghost will only be .5 mil less of a cap hit then Welker this year...

Very irrelevant yet funny..

In response to jjdbrasil's comment:

Problem is if they cut him they only save 1.8 mil on the cap, then he needs to be replaced so the savings isn't significant.

In response to Muzwell's comment:

you can get a kicker for like 400k.

In response to 49Patriots' comment:

Then cut him, but the savings is still insignificant. No harm in bringing him to camp and cutting him if he gets beaten out. You can spread the dead money then because it's after 6/1. 

In response to kansaspatriot's comment:

Because he missed one kick against Arizona. Look at his kick off which are a bigger factor in a winning a game.

Don't they bring in some guy from Umass every year to compete with him?  Think they'll do something like that again this year, and make up their minds based on performance.  Gost is a pretty good kicker despite what some say . . . Belichick won't cut him I don't think without a reliable replacement. With a reliable replacement, however, things might be different. 

I think the kickers they bring in are to save wear and tear on ghost. Restructure give him a couple more years and a little more guaranteed. Use that savings on D. 

Remember Ghost was a good soldier at the same time Mankins was having his hissy fit back in 2000. They both got paid despite their methods but if asked to renegotiate, I believe Ghost would oblige.

While he's no Vinateri, he's sitll a damn good kicker and those don't just grow on trees.  While I will say he isn't worth 3.5 Million, I have to wonder what alternatives there are out there?  A strong attempt at restructuring should definitley be made though. 

Yeah. Keep him and have him restructure. if we can pull his cap,hit down to 1.5 and save 2m that goes a long way.

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How about this...we have around 12 million to spend right now...sign a guy like Dumervil and then ask Ghost to restructure/take a cut. Why do it before? So we can be 14 million under? What good is that of we don't sign someone? We already let Welker go over money, we lost out on the young defensive ends (I think everyone went to Seattle). We cut Lloyd because of money. We signed Talib to a safe...lower cost, one year deal (again saved money). We signed Washington to half of what Woodhead got in San Diego (we wanted him back, had a figure in mind...he left because of money). We just signed a 34 year old safety to a one million dollar deal, when the younger hard hitting safety (Goldson) got paid elsewhere. 

Why do we have to put the screws to our kicker, without having to?

Because 3.5m is a lot for a kicker. I wouldn't cut him, but I would try to extend him and try to save 2m.

if then we have 14m, we could sign sanders to an offer sheet, sign Abraham for Wilson type money, and possibly sign Edelman and vollmer. 14m goes a decent way. 

I don't want to sign dumervil. at least not for 8m per .

In response to PatsLifer's comment:

Yeah 3.5 million is a lot for a kicker, but all these players you mention signing...Sanders, Abraham, Edelman and maybe even Vollmer can be had without touching the kickers money. Cut the kickers contract if you expect to go over what we already have under the cap..I think that's around 12 million.

In response to jjdbrasil's comment:

he has one of the best nicknames in sports-pats can't cut him!!

Restructure.  It's getting hard to find a good kicker.  While Ghost hasn't been the most reliable lately I still think he is one of the better kickers in the league. 

I'm in the restructure camp.  No, he isn't Adam Venatieri but he's a good kicker.

Give me the restructure. Last year was his worst year and yet he was only middle of the road for kickers. If you are middle of the road on your worst year then I'd keep him around. Oh for 49patriots, what kind of kicker do you think you're going to get for $400K? Not a very good one.

As for the kick offs, I think they are intentionally short. Notice how he tends to put it 5yrds into the endzone? That's just deep enough to bring it out but with the new kick off position I noticed the Pats getting the guy inside the 20 a lot. I think BB is intentionally taking the gamble that his STers can get to the 20 before the returner and for the most part he's be right