The Cincinnati Bengals kicker agreed to return to his team after a shaky season for the playoff squad.
The Nuge has returned, as reported by NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
The Cincinnati Bengals kicker had failed to maintain a stranglehold on his kicking duties this past year, only converting on 78 percent of his attempts this season. The lowlight of his season came when he missed a field goal as time expired in overtime against the Carolina Panthers, ending the game in a 37-37 tie and leaving Bengals fans in a state of shock.
The miss inspired Bengals teammate Adam Jones to go gonzo on Nugent.
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From NFL.com:
"“We were in a perfect position to win the game, two seconds left on the clock, we’ve got to win the game,” Jones told reporters after the game. “Everybody in here gets paid to do a job and that’s what everybody needs to do.”When asked if it’s time for the Bengals to get a new kicker, he didn’t exactly campaign for Nugent to stay.“I didn’t say that, but I said everybody gets paid to do a job,” he said. “So perform and do your job, that’s all I’m saying.”"
Adam Jones knows quite a bit about accountability from his time in the NFL, so Nugent should take note.
Mike Nugent has seen his kicking percentage slowly down-tick each year from 86 percent down to 78 percent, but despite that, the Bengals are making Nugent among the highest paid kickers in the NFL with a last name not ending in “-kowski”.
For the Bengals, the signing may simply be an indication that the front office is not comfortable with the replacement level talent at kicker. Regardless, this seems to be an unreasonably high contract for Mike Nugent even though some of it is tied into incentives.
For Nugent, he simply has to be happy to be returning to the NFL on a multi-year deal. He has shown the ability to perform well as a kicker, particularly at the end of this past season, but hasn’t done so with the consistency you need at the position.
[H/T: NFL.com]
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