New England Patriots must keep Stephen Gostkowski

Since 1996, the New England Patriots haven’t had to many issues with their kickers, as up until 2005 Adam Vinatieri was their kicker, and then Stephen Gostkowski replaced him. Both of these kickers were automatic for the Patriots, but now the time has come, that the Patriots need to make on a decision on whether they should pay Gostkowski a lot of money or move on. If they do keep him, they will probably have to pay him somewhere in the $3.5 million per year range, which is only a small amount more than his current salary.

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I don’t know if any kicker is worth that kind of money, but if there is a kicker that is, then its Gostkowski. After having a lot of success early in his career, his numbers began to dip a bit, but over the last two to three years, he has been the norm for kicking. He led the NFL in field goals made this year, and only Adam Vinatieri had a higher a higher percentage of field goals made. Vinatieri did end up missing two field goals in the postseason though.

One thing that one must consider when comparing Gostkowski to other kickers like Matt Bryant or Vinatieri, is the environment they are kicking in. Bryant has the advantage of kicking in a dome, at least nine out of the 16 games every year. Vinatieri gets to kick at Lucas Oil Stadium eight games a year, which has a retractable roof. Gostkowski on the other hand has to kick in the rainy, snowy and windy northeast, and is still great.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots kicker

Stephen Gostkowski

(3) kicks an extra point against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Patriots won 28-24. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The most impressive part of Gostkowski’s kicking game is his ability to kick 50+ yard field goals. His career 50+ percentage is 76 %, and over the last three years he has been at 89 % from 50+. With him, the Patriots basically only need to get to the opponents 35 yard line, and it is an automatic 3 points. He has a strong leg and is extremely accurate in any weather condition, and he would be a big loss for the Patriots.

The Patriots must do everything they can to keep him, as the kicking draft class this year is very weak. The only kicker who I believe is a viable replacement option in the 2015 NFL draft is Justin Manton. Obviously he would also be a significant downgrade to Gostkowski as well. If Roberto Aguayo would have declared for the draft, he could have been a very good replacement for Gostkowski if the Patriots would have been willing to use a higher draft pick on him, but since he didn’t this year’s draft class is extremely weak.

The Patriots will likely utilize the franchise tag on Devin McCourty, which takes away the option of using it on Gostkowski, which would have been a very viable option in a different year. While the Patriots do have other concerns like keeping Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty, I believe the Patriots should pay up for Gostkowski and maybe look to save money somewhere else, for example Vince Wilfork.

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