The New England Patriots and kicker Stephen Gostkowski beat the clock.
The two sides came to agreement on a four-year contract worth a “ballpark total of $17 million,” according to ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. The Patriots had placed the franchise player tag on Gostkowski in March, and the kicker then signed the tender a few days later. The two sides had until Wednesday to work out a long-term, which they’ve obviously done, according to multiple reports.
The 31-year-old has been one of the NFL’s most consistent kickers over the course of his nine-year career. Gostkowski was drafted in 2006 and immediately took over for Patriots legend Adam Vinatieri. Gostkowski has connected on 86.8 percent of his career field goal attempts and had arguably his best season in 2014, when he hit on 35 of 37 attempts for a career-high 94.6 percent success rate.
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports Images
