Bring in Some Competition for Gostowski this Offseason

I don’t care how much stats say Stephen Gostowski is a top-10 kicker, I want some competition for that spot this offseason. Gostowski can drill the ball through the middle of the uprights every time until the moment becomes just a little too big and he craps himself.
Gostowski, the past couple seasons, has had shrinkage when it comes to big kicks in big moments and a little competition in camp could be a good thing as far as I’m concerned. The first six games of this past season the Patriots went 3-3 and all three losses were lost by a combined 4 total points. In at least two of those games Gostowski shanked a field goal that would have ultimately won the game.

Free agent Jason Hanson seems intriguing to me seeing as how he knocks through 95% of his kicks while his team was trailing the game while Gostowski kicks just 80%. That number tells me Hanson doesn’t lose the game for his team. Hanson is pretty old so I think he’s ideal to bring in for a team that needs to win in the next two years with Brady’s window closing. Seeing as how old he is, he will require nothing more than a 1-year deal; in essence the financial burden is nonexistent.


This past season Gostowski made 83% of his field goals while Hanson made 89%. Coming from the era of watching Adam Vinatieri drill every clutch kick I can’t bear to watch Gostowski anymore. Gostowski is the type of kicker that inspired the idea of “Icing the kicker.”

Josh Brown
@TitleTownTalkSB