The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The guy that single handedly won the Pats two Super Bowls has agreed to a contract with the Colts.  Let the "we didn't need him anyway" talk start!  This, for the Pats, is terrible.  Worst thing (outside of losing Brady) that could have happened.  As a 'Phins fan...I'm dancing in the streets!!

Vinatieri reaches agreement with Colts
By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff  |  March 21, 2006

Adam Vinatieri and the Indianapolis Colts have agreed in principle to a multiyear contract and are working out the final details of a deal that will make him the highest-paid kicker in National Football League history, sources close to the negotiations told the Globe Tuesday night.


Vinatieri, who is entering his 11th season and has played with the Patriots his entire career, met with the Green Bay Packers last week, his only other free agent visit.

Vinatieri, who earned $2.5 million as the Patriots' franchise player last season, spurned an offer to re-sign with New England before the free agency period began.

The Colts play indoors at the RCA Dome, and Vinatieri has made 37 of 41 career field goals indoors. His only misses have come in Reliant Stadium in Houston, all in the 2003 season (3 of 5 vs. Houston and 1 of 3 vs. Carolina in Super Bowl XXXVIII). He is a perfect 10 for 10 in Indianapolis.

The Patriots will be auditioning kickers over the next few weeks.




Source:  http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/03/21/vinatieri_reaches_agreement_with_colts/

I'll bet the farm that we'll be seeing Mike Vanderjagt in red, white and blue. 

We have allready been talking about this.  :|

http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php/topic,8968.0.html

maine, shouldn't you be happy he left.

He is.... he's just looking at it from a football analyst's point of view... not a Dolphins fan's.   I've been known to do the same thing at times.

I specifically said "as a 'Phins fan I'm dancing in the streets."  Miss that line?

Hence renaming threads to make sense.  Why would I look into a thread "hey Pats2006" that was started well before Adam signed for discussion?

Let's name threads specific to what the content is, eh?

Adam Vinatieri is the Mariano Rivera of kickers...but that won't help the Colts.  They lost Edgerrin James, and Peyton Manning / Tony Dungy are the Chris Webber / Phil Mickelson combination from hell.

Dude, 'Stroke is right on one thing,  you are the most pessimistic person ever.  So what WILL help the Colts?  E. James was there,  and they never won jack with him.  V-jact hasn't been clutch for a while, and the Colts only had the best record in the NFL last year. Granted it means nothing if ya keep losing in the playoffs but hell,  even Cowher eventually won a S.B. 

The Pats baffle me. Last night i heard that they have 20 mil in cap space. I know they don't believe in overpaying for people, which i respect, but i think Viniateri has proven one of their least expendable players. I mean since most of the major free agents are signed i wonder how or if they plan to spend any amont of money.

The owner is beginning to look a little tight fisted in NE if you ask me.

What WILL help the Colts?

Vinatieri is a good start, but a Tony Dungy coached team simply cannot finish the post-season job.

We'll the scholarship for belechick & pioli is officially over. They cannot justify this move, not with 20 million bucks in cap space. I know they hate to overspend, but this guy is the best at his position period. The pats should've franchised him.  I'm not ready to count the pats out, but the fans are growing restless.

Let's get real here.  He made two pretty big kicks (which kickers should make.)  The guy is clutch, but I don't think the Pats are going to be much worse off because of it.

We've seen this before with the Pats -- they can dump whoever they want, and the team will still do okay.  Every time a player left, it was supposed to be a big deal, but they always patch it up.  If you want too much money for your position, you're going to get cut from the Pats.  They'll do just fine, and they'll get another kicker who will play for less.

Yes, Dave - let's get real here.  Oakland - New England, in the snow.  Pats give Adam a 46 yard attempt, IN A BLIZZARD.  If he misses that field goal it drastically alters the direction of the entire franchise.  Adam has 19 GAME WINNING KICKS in his career.  Two of those are last second game winning kicks IN THE SUPER BOWL.  Both of those kicks were OVER 40 yard attempts.

So yes, let's get real here.  In '01 do you know how many offensive touchdowns the Pats scored in the post season before beating the Rams in the Super Bowl?

ZERO.

Freakin ZERO.

Defense and kicking won those games.

Period.

I'm not saying that he's not valuable.

You said that he won two Super Bowls single handedly.  That's why I say "Let's get real".

I'm all about special teams, but the Pats have been winning on controling their salary, not by paying guys at their inflated value.  This is just another move using that same strategy. 

Ouch. That's a stat I did not know.

Okay - "single handedly" is a stretch.  But they don't win those games without his foot.

Here's the rub, the difference between the Colts offer and the Pats offer was $500,000 a year.  For a team 20 million under the cap.  You let him walk over that?

LMAO....Kraft gives away Superbowl rings, yet he cannot pay Viniateri $500,000 more ?

It's because they didn't want to cross the 3 million a year line for a kicker.  Some guys, however, you spend for.  He's one.  When you have a KICKER that is a face of the franchise, and that franchise has won three of the last five super bowls, you PAY THE MAN unless he sucks.  Adam doesn't.

I think the Pats have taken their strategy too far.  I'm not sure if Adam V is the end-all-be-all of mistakes, though -- I think their other moves (or lack of) this offseason are going to hurt them more than losing players.

All teams lose players due to free agency and not being able to pay a guy's top shelf value -- but most teams will also go out and pricey guy or two in free agency that may be a better fit for them.  The Pats did this with Dillon a few years back.  This year, though, they are just sitting on their hands.

Yes it is Dave. I went to Boston HERALD this morning, Adam V. was the lead story on the front page. I wacth New England Sports tonight on the dish to get my celtics news, and the consensus was the pats screwed up by even letting him hit the market. This is a major story in new england. Expect major criticism to be layed at the pats front office for the reason MAINE stated.

With the NFL being as competitive as it is vinatieri is considered a lethal weapon who is at least worth 2-3 games in the regular season. Dont underestimate this blunder by the pats front office.

Let me tell you something.  When I was at ESPN weekend at MGM earlier this month, I went to an event starring an interview with Adam Vinatieri, and questions and answers from the audience.  If I told you that theatre looked like Gillette Stadium South, it wouldn't be an overstatement.  Every Patriots' fan in Orlando was in that room, and the minute the session was over, they mobbed him like nobody's business.  PEople were trampling little kids, pushing old women down, and hurdling over the seats to get to this guy.

A freakin' kicker.

::)

If he wasn't the most popular player on the squad (maybe next to Brady), you could make an argument to let him walk.  But, seeing as how the fans swoon over this guy, I'd think you'd make every effort to get him back.  I don't think the Pats figured anyone else would be willing to shell out the cash and he'd coming crawling back once he tested the waters and they were too cold.

Now Adam joins the crowd! :'(

(http://bostondirtdogs.boston.com/Headline_Archives/BDD_leavingtown.jpg)

The thing is, if you're strategy is like the Patriots (don't overpay), you better be making the right calls regarding your players.  I'm sure they will get a kicker for what they want to pay him, but will that kicker be as accurate and clutch as Vinatieri?  That task will be difficult at best, and at worst it will be impossible. 

You're not going to find a kicker as good as Adam V. for the same price.  ...that's not the question.  The question is can you use the money you save to upgrade another position GREATER THAN than the downgrade you'll get from Adam V's replacement.

The Pats have done a fantastic job with this strategy so far.

     As a Dolphins fan, I'm laughing all the way to the bank on this one.    As an NFL fan with an unbiased opinion, I as this one question.  How could the Patriots let a franchise kicker go?  Franchise kickers are probably more rare than franchise quarterbacks.  This guy was one of the main reasons why the Pats won three Super Bowls in four years.  I mean, I understand that kickers salaries should be relatively even keeled, because of their limited role on a football team.

  However, Adam Vinatieri is not most kickers.  This guy will probably go down as the most clutch kicker in the history of the NFL and perhaps one day take his place next to Jan Stenerud in Canton, Ohio as the second only pure place kicker elected to the Hall of Fame.  Bottom line is this, this is a man that YOU PAY!  Yes, kickers are a dime a dozen, but guys like Vinatieri are one in a million.  Without him who knows what the Pats would be like today?

  The Patriots will regret this, because Paul Edinger, Mike Vanderjagt, or any other Obi Wan Jabroni they bring in will never be able to hold Vinatieri's kicking tee.  The next kicker they bring will be perhaps almost reviled as Jay Fiedler was when he replaced Dan Marino.  No matter what he did it was never, ever, good enough.  If the Pats aren't kicking themselves in the ass over this loss, they will be soon enough.

To be perfectly honest, if I am the front office of NE, I have to assume that every choice I make is golden.  If there is one thing NE has proven, it's that invaluable players... aren't.  Time for nameless cog #329832 to be inserted...

The NE gameplan centers around two things:

1) superior coaching
2) incredible luck

I don't see how either of these things are affected.

Yeah, Tony Dungy has about as much chance of winning the Super Bowl as Bill Cowh... oh, wait.

They better get moving then. They have done almost nothing in free agency.

At what point does "not overpaying" become "being cheap"?

What's the difference between Kraft no overpaying and Huizenga not overpaying?

More bad news.... the one guy who could actually soften the blow of Vinatieri's departure, Mike Vanderjagt, has signed with the Dallas Cowboys.