cowboys meet w/vanderjagt

[Mjolnir]

Cowboys will meet with Vanderjagt

10:54 AM CST on Wednesday, March 22, 2006
BY TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News



IRVING ? Seeing the top kicker go off the free-agent market Tuesday when Adam Vinatieri signed with Indianapolis, two sources said the Cowboys are visiting Wednesday with the man Vinatieri replaces, Mike Vanderjagt.

It?s somewhat of a surprise because Vanderjagt has not kicked off full-time since 2003, but Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said earlier in the off-season his team will have a veteran kicker in 2006.

Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in NFL history at 87.5 percent, and in 2003 he did not miss a kick (37 of 37). Last season, Vanderjagt made 23 of 25 attempts, but he is remembered more for missing a potential game-tying kick against Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs and some comments a few years ago about Peyton Manning.

Manning retorted by calling Vanderjagt the "idiot kicker."

Regardless, Vanderjagt is the best kicker currently available, however the Cowboys could be monitoring Olindo Mare?s future in Miami. There have been reports the Dolphins are preparing to cut Mare, and they have also visited with Vanderjagt.

The Cowboys have spoken with the agent for Seattle?s restricted free agent Josh Brown, but they have not made an offer. The Seahawks would be able to match a Cowboys offer, but if they did not, the Cowboys would have to hand over a seventh-round pick in return. The agent for Paul Edinger has also called the Cowboys.

The Cowboys had targeted Matt Bryant when free agency began, but he quickly re-signed with Tampa Bay, and Ryan Longwell left for Minnesota for a five-year, $10 million offer.

 

[Mjolnir]

oops, shoulda posted in nfl

 

[countinguy]

LOL he would fit perfect into the organization, way to go chokemeister...

Also colts pick up Veneteri, Kicker from New England.. I think colts came out much better on this one.

 

[kneifl]

Looks like Cowboys are loading up this year. I do wish they would have got Vinateri, but Vanderjagt has been a pretty good kicker for most of his years in the NFL. LMAO when he missed that field goal in the playoffs vs Pitt, hopefully the same thing does not happen to Dallas.

Anyway, we all know who will win the NFC East this upcoming season

regardless of who the favorites are (NY Girls

)



And as for the other crap teams...

and

kneifl

 

[Mjolnir]

:scared :scared :moon: :bigun: :weed: :weed: :fit01: :fit01: :fit01:


Cowboys sign Vanderjagt to three-year contractBy Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


Breaking from their recent history of employing young placement specialists who worked for minimum wages, the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday signed unrestricted free agent kicker Mike Vanderjagt, a colorful eight-year veteran who is the NFL's career leader in field goal percentage. Top 50 free agents
Mike Vanderjagt (pictured) was ranked No. 13 in Len Pasquarelli's top 50 free agents.

To see where the best available have signed and who's still on the market, click here.
League sources confirmed for ESPN.com that Vanderjagt, who arrived in Dallas on Wednesday to visit with Cowboys coaches and team officials, signed a three-year contract. Financial details were not yet available, but it is believed the contract averages about $2 million annually.

Adding a kicker of Vanderjagt's profile and price range is out of character for the Cowboys. Under owner Jerry Jones, the team's preference has been to develop its own kickers, often undrafted college free agents, and to invest very little in the position. But the Cowboys went through three kickers in 2005, converted only 21 of 27 field goal tries, and suffered all season at the position.

Dallas lost three games in 2005 by three points or fewer, and that may have swayed the team's thinking in pursuing a more proven and dependable placement specialist.

In Vanderjagt, the Cowboys are getting a kicker whose last effort, a missed 46-yard field goal attempt in the Indianapolis Colts' divisional-round loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, is not indicative of his career in the league. The veteran kicker, who began his professional career in the CFL after playing at West Virginia University, has never scored fewer than 104 points and has averaged 124.3 points.

Vanderjagt, who turns 36 next week, has converted 217 of 248 field goals, and that 87.5 percent success rate is the best in league history. He has also made 344 of 346 extra point tries.

The only shortcoming in Vanderjagt's game are his kickoffs, on which he has averaged 60.2 yards. The Colts employed a separate kickoff specialist to handle those chores the past two seasons. Vanderjagt has insisted he can kick off, however, and it remains to be seen how the Cowboys deal with that element.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.



they got him. yeahhhhh baby. they lost three game slast year by 3 points or less.
goin to the superbowl!!!!!

 

[Mjolnir]

Kicking The Habit
Cowboys Go With The Experience, Sign Kicker Mike Vanderjagt

Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
March 23, 2006 12:36 PM


Mike Vanderjagt is the NFL's most accurate kicker, making 87.5 of his career field goal attempts.



IRVING, Texas - After the disastrous experience of going through three kickers last year, help is now on the way.

The Cowboys have signed free agent Mike Vanderjagt to hopefully solve their kicking woes, which hit an all-time low last season.

Vanderjagt received a three-year, $5.4 million contract that included a $2.5 million signing bonus. The overall contract could escalate to about $6 million based on incentives involving yearly field-goal percentage.

The former Indianapolis Colts standout is the NFL's most accurate kicker all time, making 87.5 percent of his career field-goal attempts, including 23-of-25 last season and all 37 field-goal attempts in 2003.

Of course, Vanderjagt is likely remembered most for his last kick, the one he badly missed from 46 yards at the end of the AFC Divisional Playoffs that would have forced overtime with the Steelers instead of a 21-13 loss for the Colts.

And another drawback with Vanderjagt likely is his kickoffs, a duty he has not handled on a full-time basis since 2003. The Colts have brought in numerous kickers over the past two seasons, including drafting two guys, to handle kickoffs. They even end up with former Cowboys kicker Jose Cortez handling kickoffs the final two games and during the playoffs last year.

Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells stresses the importance of field position and likely won't be satisfied with short kickoffs. However, keeping two kickers on the roster is not something Parcells would welcome.

Regardless of his kick-off shortcomings, Vanderjagt is expected to be a vast improvement for the Cowboys kicking field goals. He has hit 217-of-248 career field-goal attempts and has connected on 344-of-346 extra-point attempts. He also set the NFL record for consecutive field goals made at 42 (2002-04), snapping Gary Anderson's previous record (40, San Francisco/Minnesota, 1997-98).

Vanderjagt has opened his career with eight consecutive 100-plus point seasons, and leaves Indianapolis as the club's all-time leading scorer with 995 career points.

His perfect 2003 regular season was one of the finest ever by an NFL kicker. By making 37 consecutive field goals and 46 extra-point attempts, Vanderjagt turned in the just fourth perfect kicking season in the NFL history.

Three times in his career he has finished a season with a field goal percentage more than 90 percent. He has hit five field goals in one game on three different occasions and has nine career four-field goal games.

And if it's distance you want, Vanderjagt has that as well, making 14 career field goals of 50 yards or more. Among those kicks were two 50-plus-yard field goals against Denver in 2002 - a 54-yarder to tie the game at the end of regulation and a 51-yarder to win the game in overtime - making him the only player in NFL history to force and decide an overtime game with two 50-plus-yard field goals.

Vanderjagt has 11 game-winning field goals in the final 15 seconds of a game.

But signing Vanderjagt is a change in philosophy for the Cowboys, who have always settled on inexperienced and inexpensive kickers since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989.

But 2005 seemed to be the last straw, especially after Billy Cundiff's training camp injury forced the Cowboys to keep Jose Cortez for the first seven games. Untimely misses on field goals and even extra points, coupled with Cortez' lack of accountability, led to his release.

The Cowboys then signed Shaun Suisham off their practice squad, and the rookie was perfect on two short field goal attempts and two extra points in his first two NFL games. But when Cundiff was eligible for the Cowboys to re-sign, they went with the veteran the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Cundiff returned with a bang, hitting a franchise-record 56-yard field goal against the Lions in his first appearance. But four days later, Cundiff hooked a 34-yard attempt wide left midway through the fourth quarter that would have broken a fourth-quarter, 21-21 tie with Denver on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys eventually lost in overtime, 24-21.

Cundiff then had a game to forget in Carolina on Christmas Eve, missing one field goal and having another blocked in the first half. In the final minute of play, Cundiff missed a potential game-tying field goal, but the Cowboys were bailed out on a running-into-the-kicker penalty assessed on the Panthers. So instead of kicking again to tie the game, the Cowboys went for the win instead, scoring the game-winning touchdown.

However, Cundiff was released before the final game. The Cowboys re-signed Suisham, who went 1-of-2 in the season finale, missing his first and only attempt beyond 29 yards.

But now the Cowboys have a veteran kicker.

Any chances of Vanderjagt returning to Indianapolis ended Tuesday when the Colts signed New England unrestricted free-agent kicker Adam Vinatieri to a deal that reportedly includes a $3.5 million signing bonus and averages $2.5 million over the first three years of the contract.

And with Vinatieri off the market, Vanderjagt and former Minnesota kicker Paul Edinger had become the top veteran kickers still available, assuming the Cowboys weren't interested in re-signing Cundiff, recently signed by Tampa Bay and then released this week. The Bucs re-signed their kicker from last year, Matt Bryant, who the Cowboys were highly interested in signing at the start of free agency.


:toast: :toast: :toast: moon1 :Yep: :fit01: :fit01: :fit01: :fit01: