Mason Crosby gets 5 year deal

[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.

[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

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."