Mason Crosby gets 5 year deal

[imscott72]

Per Adam Schefter on Twitter..

[Fritz]

Uh, from whom? The Packers, I presume?

If so, this is good news. While Crosby has some misses, I think he will, like many kickers, get better and better with age, and his kickoff placement is invaluable. On top of that, with the new rules regarding kickoffs, he's a threat to pound the ball into the end zone now.

[imscott72]

http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2011/7/27/2297074/mason-crosby-2011-nfl-free-agency-green-bay-packers-news-adam-schefter-report

[imscott72]

Uh, from whom? The Packers, I presume?

If so, this is good news. While Crosby has some misses, I think he will, like many kickers, get better and better with age, and his kickoff placement is invaluable. On top of that, with the new rules regarding kickoffs, he's a threat to pound the ball into the end zone now.

Yes Packers. If it were another team I would have stated that.. :)

[Scott Campbell]

Yay!

[Bretsky]

no brainer to sign Money; with his leg he's needed at the Frozen Tundra.

[wootah]

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the deal is worth $14.75 million and includes $3 million of guaranteed money.

The contract puts Crosby in the upper echelon of kickers in the National Football League just below top-paid kicker Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders.
source: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/126242738.html

Ted must have seen Patler's numbers on the guy. I'm glad to have him back. We now have another 5 years to find a good holder for him!

[Brandon494]

No surprise there

[red]

great news

[Patler]

I'm glad to have him back. We now have another 5 years to find a good holder for him!

Things should stabilize in the kicking game, if the last half of last season was not a fluke for Masthay. Hopefully the two will stick around for a while and kicking will become more consistent. They have a young snapper, a young punter/holder and a young kicker. Conceivably, all could be in GB for the next 10 years. This could stabilize special teams for a long time.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Yea Crosby!

[jmbarnes101]

Glad to see this one done quickly. Now I'm hoping JJones is next.

[Fritz]

Yes Packers. If it were another team I would have stated that.. :)

Yes. I was just a little nervous. Unlike Aaron Rodgers, I thought that Crosby was the most important FA signing...

[pbmax]

Things should stabilize in the kicking game, if the last half of last season was not a fluke for Masthay. Hopefully the two will stick around for a while and kicking will become more consistent. They have a young snapper, a young punter/holder and a young kicker. Conceivably, all could be in GB for the next 10 years. This could stabilize special teams for a long time.

I am hoping he spent time in Ariz with that kicking specialist coach, the one the Packers resisted sending Ryan to.

I also wonder if Russ Ball had to use a cattle prod to get TT to sign the check for a kicker. :)

[Fritz]

Ted's mellowing now. Next thing you know he'll be signing a soon-to-be-over-the-hill running back to a huge free agent contract!

[Tony Oday]

Yeah 5 more years of wide right.... :) Well he is better than nothing.

[gbgary]

glad they're keeping him!

[Patler]

5 more years of an 84% field goal kicker inside 50 yards, and a 50% kicker between 50 and 60 yards.

[MJZiggy]

5 more years of an 84% field goal kicker inside 50 yards, and a 50% kicker between 50 and 60 yards.Outside in Green Bay.

Fritz, let's not be getting all carried away now.

[sheepshead]

I am hoping he spent time in Ariz with that kicking specialist coach, the one the Packers resisted sending Ryan to.

I also wonder if Russ Ball had to use a cattle prod to get TT to sign the check for a kicker. :)

:D

[vince]

Panthers just paid 38-year old Olindo Mare $12 mil over 4 years with a $4 mil signing bonus. He had a decent year last year, but makes Crosby's deal look a lot better I'd say.

[vince]

Ryan Longwell has re-signed with the Vikes for 4 years/$12 mil. $3.5 mil guaranteed.

Kicking on grass, outside, in the cold, great kickoff man, young... I take Crosby all day over these old fair weather kickers. He's cheaper too with an extra year under contract.

Nice work Ted as usual.

[Bretsky]

5 more years of an 84% field goal kicker inside 50 yards, and a 50% kicker between 50 and 60 yards.



FIVE CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP POSTTTTTT

[MJZiggy]

FIVE CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP POSTTTTTT:bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap:

They're right here, B.

[wootah]

Kicking on grass, outside, in the cold, great kickoff man, young...

I always thought he was pretty good at onside kicks as well although I didn't find any stats online to back this up. Either way, onside kicks might become more frequent now that the kick-off line has been moved to the 35 yard line.

[vince]

I always thought he was pretty good at onside kicks as well although I didn't find any stats online to back this up. Either way, onside kicks might become more frequent now that the kick-off line has been moved to the 35 yard line.
I agree. Crosby has been pretty much perfect on every on-side kick I can remember. I also think his specialty kick-off skills will be more valuable with the kick-off being moved up.

[Noodle]

With the spot moved to the 35, I wouldn't be surprised if the competition committee eventually moves the starting point for touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 or 30 after a year of guys taking a knee. It's a league obsessed with offense, and going 80 yards is tough.

[MJZiggy]

With the spot moved to the 35, I wouldn't be surprised if the competition committee eventually moves the starting point for touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 or 30 after a year of guys taking a knee. It's a league obsessed with offense, and going 80 yards is tough.
I would just like to take a moment to register my official objection to moving the spot to the 35. Thank you.

[Smidgeon]

I would just like to take a moment to register my official objection to moving the spot to the 35. Thank you.

Meh.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Some interesting stats from JSO on Crosby. Comparing him to the two best kickers in Packers history (no offense to Jan Stenerud, who wasn't here that long and was at the end of his long an illustrious career), he compares relatively favorably--especially when you consider the disproportionate amount of long FGs he's attempted. Also consider that he's been better than those guys on kickoffs and he's probably the best onside kicker I've witnessed.


Mason Crosby is back for a fifth season, having signed a five-year deal with $3 million guaranteed. Counting playoffs, he has hit 78% of his field goals and all but one of his 219 extra points.

By comparison, Chris Jacke made 76.4% of his field goals from 1989-'96 and Ryan Longwell, the best kicker in club history, made 80.9% from 1997-'05.

As to him missing game winning kicks, he's made only 1 of 4 game winning kicks in his career, but 2 of his 3 misses were from 52 yards or longer. Small sample size. I blame McCarthy earlier in his career for not trying harder to get closer. He played conservatively, I believe, in those two games when the Packers barely got in Crosby's range--putting a lot of pressure on his kicker to make a 50/50 ball under pressure.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/126744188.html


Strangely, Crosby has had just four chances in four years for a game-winning kick in the final minute of regular or overtime with a chance to take the lead. He hit one from 42 in his NFL debut before missing from 52, 38 and 53.

One other note on Brett Goode


Brett Goode hasn't made an unusable snap in his three seasons. Masthay, also an effective holder, estimated all but a few of Goode's 89 snaps on punts were perfect. The same held true on Goode's 94 snaps for placements.

"What makes him great is when I'm punting, practice or games, I have literally never thought about the snap," said Masthay. "He's on the mark.

"As the holder, I didn't have to spin many at all and I didn't have to reach big for any of them. You don't want (Crosby) to be hitting the laces or a moving ball. When (Goode) gets in a groove, it's coming laces (facing) out 19 times out of 20. Or even better."

[wootah]

Things should stabilize in the kicking game, if the last half of last season was not a fluke for Masthay. Hopefully the two will stick around for a while and kicking will become more consistent. They have a young snapper, a young punter/holder and a young kicker. Conceivably, all could be in GB for the next 10 years. This could stabilize special teams for a long time.

Could it be that we switch our holder AGAIN this year? Seriously now: Cobb has the skills and experience + adds the possibility of a little trickery now and then. I read somewhere on this forum that Cobb was a lefty QB in his first year in college. With Crosby kicking right, this would mean the holder receives the ball with his right shoulder forward: ideally to throw a pass if you're left handed.
Today is the first day that Crosby is back allowed to practice with the other guys; we might know more in a couple of hours.

[Patler]

Could it be that we switch our holder AGAIN this year? Seriously now: Cobb has the skills and experience + adds the possibility of a little trickery now and then. I read somewhere on this forum that Cobb was a lefty QB in his first year in college. With Crosby kicking right, this would mean the holder receives the ball with his right shoulder forward: ideally to throw a pass if you're left handed.
Today is the first day that Crosby is back allowed to practice with the other guys; we might know more in a couple of hours.

MM has mentioned several times that it works better using the punter because it doesn't take a position player away from his other practice reps, and the three ST guys can work on their skills all during practice. MM is so much into the efficiency and pace of practices that I doubt he would make a change so long as Masthay is good at holding. Cobb could be the backup.

[pbmax]

I am happy to have Crosby back for this price, but his percentage looks worse now and the Jacke comparison is well out of date. FG% have been skyrocketing in the last 20 years and so Crosby's 78% is less favorable compared to his league than Jacke's was.

I know Crosby has been asked to lick longer FGs more often than most kickers, but he is not in either Jacke's or Longwell's class yet.