NFL Rumors: Indianapolis Colts won’t franchise Adam Vinatieri
By Bryan Rose
The Indianapolis Colts want to re-sign free agent kicker Adam Vinatieri, but won’t use the franchise tag to do it.
Why, you ask?
Well – given Vinatieri has already been franchise tagged twice during his career (both with the New England Patriots), doing so again would force the Colts to franchise Vinatieri as a quarterback – quite an expensive overture.
"Adam Vinatieri isn’t a franchise tag option for Indy. Since the Pats franchised him twice (’02 & ’05), he gets the QB number with a 3rd tag."
There was some confusion as to if the previous franchise tags carried over in the ‘new’ CBA but it seems that they do.
The veteran kicker is now 41-years-old, but still wants to play for another two or three seasons. Understandably he’d like to remain with the Colts, so the two sides shouldn’t struggle to hammer out a deal in the near future.
A reasonable expectation on a deal is about $3.5 to $4 million per season.
Vinatieri, one of the best kickers in NFL history, was 35 of 40 last season.