09-22-2018, 11:02 AM
Two hours before Dan Bailey’s first practice with the Vikings on Wednesday, when Mike Zimmer was asked about the peace of mind that comes with a veteran kicker, he replied with a comparison that revealed just how deep of a crevasse the Vikings’ woes at the position have created.
“I kind of feel the same way about him as I did with the quarterback position,” Zimmer said. “Somebody asked me the other day about the five years I’ve been here we’ve been trying to get that position solidified, so if we can get that position solidified like we have with the quarterback I think that’ll be good.”
So is Bailey the Kirk Cousins of Vikings kickers? If you think about it, is the comparison really all that crazy?
The Vikings have used seven starting quarterbacks in Zimmer’s five years with the team, forced to adapt on the fly because of injuries (to Matt Cassel, Sam Bradford and, most notably, Teddy Bridgewater). They thought they had a long-term solution in Bridgewater, until his knee injury triggered a series of events that led to the team starting four veterans (Shaun Hill, Bradford, Case Keenum and Cousins) over the next 33 regular-season games. Cousins, in the first year of a three-year, $84 million deal, is the player the Vikings believe can finally solve their long-term problem.
They are now on their fourth kicker in Zimmer’s five years, after Blair Walsh’s infamous 27-yard miss in the 2016 NFC wild-card game (and his ensuing collapse) sent the team scrambling for solutions. On Sunday, Bailey will become the Vikings’ third kicker in 26 regular-season games since the team released Walsh in the middle of the 2016 season.
The Vikings have devoted more than $2 million in cap space to three kickers this year (Bailey, Daniel Carlson and Kai Forbath) after Walsh occupied $3.428 million of cap space the last two years — while kicking in nine games during that time. But when the position gets to be as big of a bugaboo as it has become for the Vikings, money isn’t much of an object.
And during Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota, there’s perhaps no NFL team for whom kicker has been as big of a bugaboo.
http://www.startribune.com/is-dan-bailey...493966291/
“I kind of feel the same way about him as I did with the quarterback position,” Zimmer said. “Somebody asked me the other day about the five years I’ve been here we’ve been trying to get that position solidified, so if we can get that position solidified like we have with the quarterback I think that’ll be good.”
So is Bailey the Kirk Cousins of Vikings kickers? If you think about it, is the comparison really all that crazy?
The Vikings have used seven starting quarterbacks in Zimmer’s five years with the team, forced to adapt on the fly because of injuries (to Matt Cassel, Sam Bradford and, most notably, Teddy Bridgewater). They thought they had a long-term solution in Bridgewater, until his knee injury triggered a series of events that led to the team starting four veterans (Shaun Hill, Bradford, Case Keenum and Cousins) over the next 33 regular-season games. Cousins, in the first year of a three-year, $84 million deal, is the player the Vikings believe can finally solve their long-term problem.
They are now on their fourth kicker in Zimmer’s five years, after Blair Walsh’s infamous 27-yard miss in the 2016 NFC wild-card game (and his ensuing collapse) sent the team scrambling for solutions. On Sunday, Bailey will become the Vikings’ third kicker in 26 regular-season games since the team released Walsh in the middle of the 2016 season.
The Vikings have devoted more than $2 million in cap space to three kickers this year (Bailey, Daniel Carlson and Kai Forbath) after Walsh occupied $3.428 million of cap space the last two years — while kicking in nine games during that time. But when the position gets to be as big of a bugaboo as it has become for the Vikings, money isn’t much of an object.
And during Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota, there’s perhaps no NFL team for whom kicker has been as big of a bugaboo.
http://www.startribune.com/is-dan-bailey...493966291/
