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INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts have been looking for a long-term solution at the kicking position almost as long as the team has been searching for a franchise quarterback.
Indianapolis has been trying to find a replacement for Adam Vinatieri since the middle of the 2019 season, when it became evident that Vinatieri’s body was finally succumbing to the accumulated stress of so many kicks over a quarter-century in the NFL.
The Colts have tried a lot of different solutions.
Indianapolis tried identifying a rookie kicker and developing him, only to see Rodrigo Blankenship falter from distance, then tried another avenue — the one that once worked with Vinatieiri — by forking over big money in free agency to sign Matt Gay to a four-year deal.
Gay was supposed to stabilize the kicking position for years to come.
But Indianapolis released Gay a week and a half ago, two years into a four-year deal, a decision the Colts say came down to Spencer Shrader, the second-year kicker who remains on the roster in the wake of Gay’s release.
“A lot of it had to do with Spencer,” Ballard said. “Having Spencer last year gave us a real insight into his talent level, and then he leaves us and performs, and performs for two different teams. You know how hard that is?”
The Colts know.
A kicker who spends a season substituting for short-term injuries, the way Shrader did last season with the Colts, Jets and Chiefs, must deal with a lot of uncertainty, including learning a new snapper and holder on the fly the week before a game, then making pressure kicks for a team that has little reason to have full confidence in a temporary kicker’s abilities.
Shrader’s not the first kicker they’ve had on the roster who’s proven he can handle that kind of pressure.
Indianapolis brought in Chase McLaughlin twice, once in relief of Vinatieri in 2019 and once after Blankenship’s implosion in the 2022 season opener.
Both times McLaughlin looked promising.
Both times Indianapolis chose other options over McLaughlin, picking Blankenship in a training-camp battle in 2020 and signing Gay in the 2023 offseason.
McLaughlin ended up signing in Tampa Bay, a city that has been notoriously tough on kickers, and promptly proved he could handle full-time job, making 59 of 63 field goals (93.7%) and 15 of 18 from 50 yards or longer (83.3%) the last two seasons with the Buccaneers.
In other words, McLaughlin’s given the Buccaneers what Gay was supposed to provide for the Colts. Brought in because of a strong run in Los Angeles, Gay was instead inconsistent, hit hard by injury and an inability to provide consistency from beyond the 50-yard line.
Gay made 64 of 78 field goals in his two seasons with the Colts (82.1%) and struggled mightily from deep, making only half of his kicks from 50 yards or more (11 of 22).
“Matt’s a good kicker,” Ballard said. “He’s still going to be a good kicker in this league.”
The Colts believe Shrader, the Indianapolis-born kicker who moved to Florida in middle school, began his college career at South Florida and then caught the NFL’s attention while kicking for one season at Notre Dame in 2023.
Shrader has a big, powerful leg, and the way he kicked in spot duty as a rookie likely makes him the front-runner to win the job in Indianapolis this season.
But the Colts will not hand Shrader the job outright. Indianapolis will add another kicker, likely after the draft in the undrafted free agent pool this weekened.
“We usually, always bring in two kickers,” Ballard said. “We’re always looking for a guy with upside, kind of like last year with Spencer. … We’ll look for a guy with some leg strength and upside that we think we can work with and see how it plays out.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts cut kicker Matt Gay because of belief in Spencer Shrader
Continue reading...
Indianapolis has been trying to find a replacement for Adam Vinatieri since the middle of the 2019 season, when it became evident that Vinatieri’s body was finally succumbing to the accumulated stress of so many kicks over a quarter-century in the NFL.
The Colts have tried a lot of different solutions.
Indianapolis tried identifying a rookie kicker and developing him, only to see Rodrigo Blankenship falter from distance, then tried another avenue — the one that once worked with Vinatieiri — by forking over big money in free agency to sign Matt Gay to a four-year deal.
Gay was supposed to stabilize the kicking position for years to come.
But Indianapolis released Gay a week and a half ago, two years into a four-year deal, a decision the Colts say came down to Spencer Shrader, the second-year kicker who remains on the roster in the wake of Gay’s release.
“A lot of it had to do with Spencer,” Ballard said. “Having Spencer last year gave us a real insight into his talent level, and then he leaves us and performs, and performs for two different teams. You know how hard that is?”
The Colts know.
A kicker who spends a season substituting for short-term injuries, the way Shrader did last season with the Colts, Jets and Chiefs, must deal with a lot of uncertainty, including learning a new snapper and holder on the fly the week before a game, then making pressure kicks for a team that has little reason to have full confidence in a temporary kicker’s abilities.
Shrader’s not the first kicker they’ve had on the roster who’s proven he can handle that kind of pressure.
Indianapolis brought in Chase McLaughlin twice, once in relief of Vinatieri in 2019 and once after Blankenship’s implosion in the 2022 season opener.
Both times McLaughlin looked promising.
Both times Indianapolis chose other options over McLaughlin, picking Blankenship in a training-camp battle in 2020 and signing Gay in the 2023 offseason.
McLaughlin ended up signing in Tampa Bay, a city that has been notoriously tough on kickers, and promptly proved he could handle full-time job, making 59 of 63 field goals (93.7%) and 15 of 18 from 50 yards or longer (83.3%) the last two seasons with the Buccaneers.
In other words, McLaughlin’s given the Buccaneers what Gay was supposed to provide for the Colts. Brought in because of a strong run in Los Angeles, Gay was instead inconsistent, hit hard by injury and an inability to provide consistency from beyond the 50-yard line.
Gay made 64 of 78 field goals in his two seasons with the Colts (82.1%) and struggled mightily from deep, making only half of his kicks from 50 yards or more (11 of 22).
“Matt’s a good kicker,” Ballard said. “He’s still going to be a good kicker in this league.”
The Colts believe Shrader, the Indianapolis-born kicker who moved to Florida in middle school, began his college career at South Florida and then caught the NFL’s attention while kicking for one season at Notre Dame in 2023.
Shrader has a big, powerful leg, and the way he kicked in spot duty as a rookie likely makes him the front-runner to win the job in Indianapolis this season.
But the Colts will not hand Shrader the job outright. Indianapolis will add another kicker, likely after the draft in the undrafted free agent pool this weekened.
“We usually, always bring in two kickers,” Ballard said. “We’re always looking for a guy with upside, kind of like last year with Spencer. … We’ll look for a guy with some leg strength and upside that we think we can work with and see how it plays out.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts cut kicker Matt Gay because of belief in Spencer Shrader
Continue reading...
