What Does Jason Elam's New Deal Say About Loyalty and Respect for Kickers?

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by riggins44

The NFL needs a veteran exception rule, to encourage home grown players.

In regard to kickers, it is hard to justify big bucks for an aging guy. You can a good young kicker for a lot less. The money you save could be spent elsewhere. It's rare to find a kicker worth major dollars.

I'm curious to see how Elam does in Atlanta. He will have the advantage of playing in a dome, but not the thinner air of Denver.

Elam is 26/32 career kicking in a dome. That's 81.3%, better than his 80.6% total career percentage. His long is 56 yards inside. Outside was 63 yards, which was in Denver's air. He's also a perfect 48/48 on PATs in domes. He's 601/604 total for his career on PATs so that stat really doesn't matter. He should have, and did, make them anywhere.


So, it looks like he might be a little more accurate indoors, but his career long and NFL-tying record kick was outside in Denver.

He should be about the same reliable kicker he's always been.