According to Mike Florio at Profootballtalk.com, Olindo Mare, K, formerly of the Saints and Dolphins is making a west coast trip. As part of this he is scheduled to meet with the Hawks.
Mare's season last year was simply awful. In fact, that is being generous. He was kicking in a dome and made just above 50% of his kicks. Unless the idea is for a minimum deal with only a promise to compete for the job, I don't see the value. What is does appear though, is from here on out the Hawks and Broncos will be battling for kickers. END
I don't like the idea of him being our go to kicker, but he is the best obtainable kicker right now. What my feelings on the situation is that he has a very strong leg and would be a great addition for the kickoff team. I remember him forcing a lot of touchbacks during the season. As I mentioned in a different blog, Mare plus a good rookie would come cheap and probably our best shot for kicker next year. He is very inconsistant, but maybe some competition can snap him out of it. At this point, unless they are willing to fork out picks and cash (according to Mike) to get Bironas this may be the best bet.
ReplyDeleteBironas is a restricted free agent, he was given the 2nd round tender, that is where that statement comes from. Exact same situation as Weaver.
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun to pick up Bironas, since they pilfered Alge, even though reports were that we were concerned with his unhealthy knees...I wonder if they'd match an offer? He is a fine K. I agree with most that we'll go cheap. Here's hoping all we need are XPs kicked next season. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, was a little unclear on that. I wonder what kind of cash he's looking for and if it's even worth it at this point?
ReplyDeleteMARE - OH, GOD..NO!!! I watched him chock a game winner (twice), a few years ago, in Miami. Miami was set to disrupt the Patriot 28 game run, with a game-ending field goal. Mare MISSED from 30-35 yards... it went into OT.... Mare got a second chance from 30-35 yards, and chocked again. On the next play, Brady to Branche (I think it was Branche) and the game was over... Patriots by 6.
ReplyDeleteMare??? NO THANKS!!!
Tomahawker
Being a Dolphins fan, in my alternate identity, Mare has been known to be money and a fan favorite.
ReplyDeleteHe took his first decline in 02, and it was drastic. Like everythin in 02 for the Dolphins, things just started going bad. The fans thought it might have something to do w/ the decline of special teams. I can't speak for New Orleans...
Part of me would love to see him here if for nothing than an oppertunity to be on a great team and reclaim his once great kicking game. Giving him a chance to compete would sit right with me.
Make no mistake though, if he can't perform - for the team and move on.
~GnarlyHawk
There is no doubt whatsoever that Olindo Mare was the worst kicker in football last year. He was 20 percentage points below the second-worst kicker... still, thats not the full picture, as we know. Josh was 82 percent last year, but all but one of his misses were due to crappy snaps. How was that portion of NO? They were pretty abysmal last year, save for the one game when they played, who was it again? Oh yeah, US.
ReplyDeleteI hope we don't pickup Mare, but I don't think he'll make the team if we do, so if it helps the rook we draft, I won't be yelling.
Well, Mare may or may not have anything left in the tank, but it can't hurt to have him come in and visit and kick a few..
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Elam had kicked in Denver for 15 years, mostly successfully, why did we not take a big run at him?
I don't think we were in position to offer big money to a kicker.. Elam got just that..
ReplyDeleteIf we had ample cap space and thought we needed to invest big money on the position, I am pretty sure Josh Brown would still be a Seahawk..
Gostkowski, Crosby, Folk.. Enough said..
If nothing else Mare comes aboard to be a veteran mentor for a draft pick...suits me fine as a possible scenario. He is a big name, has had success and can offer a lot of insight for a young player...Can anyone say future coaching staff? Just a thought if nothing else he contributes a little or a lot.
ReplyDeleteDoes Mare have gray hair?
ReplyDeleteMare a future coach? Naive and wishful in thought..
ReplyDeleteNot wishful in the sense that it would create a best case scenario, don't get me wrong.. it would be a terrible idea.. and i've never heard of a kicking coach.. generally that is handled by a special teams coach, who knows the entire entity of special teams and is all encompassing..
ReplyDeleteMare will not be a coach for the Hawks or any other NFL team for that matter.. If I'm wrong, it won't be the first time.. but I'd bet my life on it..
I am gonna have to back bmsnyder on this one, and why for the Hawks? He will be lucky to have one year here.
ReplyDeleteI would hate to see us pick up Mare. The only thing I could see him landing with us is if Seattle thinks that he might be cheap and be the only competition with a new kicker from the draft. If we go with Mare and no kicker in the draft we better be just scoring touch downs and two point conversions. Although that might be nice if we could do that every game.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we would only commit vet minimum if we signed Mare. If we did sign him I think it would only be to create competition with a rookie. There are 3-4 kickers coming out this year that would be serviceable. I think it might be a reach even to draft one, maybe 7th round most likely undrafted FA.
ReplyDeleteYung Hawk
Vet minimum is going to be a lot on a guy that has been in the league 15 years. Speaking of which, Mike is there a way you can find out what the vet minimum salaries are? I would rather have a guy like Carney, his leg is fairly weak but he is still solid inside of 42 yards.
ReplyDeleteAnd again, though he may not be a good field goal kicker, he's an awesome kickoff kicker. If they bring him on, he competes with a rookie for field goals and takes the kickoff position. I could see that happening... even if just to get value out of thier dollar.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I get the sense that 2 key positions on STs are being treated slightly disparagingly by our FO. Why we ever let Darche go is beyond me, and look what happened there - I remember reading somewhere (Seattle PI?) that this was a poor move and could cost the Hawks. How prescient, eh?
ReplyDeleteAs for kickers, it's kinda strange how NFL teams value them. Coming from England, any dead ball specialist is worth his weight in gold. Beckham is a prime example - ok, I know his LA Galaxy career has hardly started well, but he's still one of the best free kick takers in the world. And then there's rugby. We (England) have one of the best kickers ever in the game currently playing and he's simply feted as some demi-god.
Having said all this, I guess though it all boils down to the fact that kickers in the NFL do nothing more than kick and are not actively participating in the game throughout like soccer or rugby. But I still find it odd.
Oh yeah...Happy Easter folks :)
Mare is perhaps the worst kicker ever. They would do better to let Plack try to drop-kick field goals. We would do better to draft a guy with a strong leg, and teach him to become more accurate...any way you look at it, Mare is a loser, and the draft is where to find our next kicker, unless we can get Bironas, which would only work if Ruskell has been lying and the Hawks do have some cap space...
ReplyDelete-SlaveToTheBusinessman
The more I look at this situation the more I feel like we will have a horrific kicking game next year unless a rook steps up huge. So the question I ask is do we pick up Mare and get the big leg for kickoff at a cheap price and let him and the rook battle for place kicking or do we go after someone like Carney (as mentioned earlier) who is still very accurate and good under pressure but has no leg? In the first scenario it is the cheapest solution, but is less promising or do we get the weak accurate leg and draft a rook with a big leg? I am more and more liking the second option, but I wonder what kind of cash Carney is looking for?
ReplyDeleteI read a lot of these and it's actually near 50/50 whether or not we should even think of taking him, about his average kicking field goals ha.
ReplyDeleteI don't think The Hawks really need the headache of paying some guy money who doesn't live up to expectations again! Mare was great, but he is no Favre or Rice who can somehow keep playing better than most others at their position well beyond the NFL prime age.
Draft in the 5th round to get one of the best, kickers are easy to come by. Brown will be missed in the clutch, but just means we need more TD's and not rely on someone kicking past the 2 yard line.
Hopefully our improved run game and outstanding defense will alleviate the need for a kicker anyway! What about Plackemeier, seeing as how we won't use him as a punter (with never reaching 4th down), and the D forcing turnovers not letting teams convert 3rd down, he can be the place kicker!
But seriously Taylor Mehlhaff of Wisconsin Brandon Coutu of Georgia are the 2 best I've seen. Couto had a hamstring injury, but Mehlhaff can kick a mile!
Greg
I see strong comments regarding how bad Mare is.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to a write up on him last year when his percentages were low.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3059324
He was playing w/ a groin injury and the Saints did not sign anyone to replace him. He had to play through it. He finally took a seat after a leg injury during a tackle, they brought in Gramatica.
Stat wise, Brown wasn't half the man we make him out to be.
Mare age 34
FG Att FGM Pct
2007 17 10 58.8
2006 36 26 72.2
2005 30 25 83.3
2004 16 12 75
2003 29 22 75.9
2002 31 24 77.4
2001 21 19 90.5
2000 31 28 90.3
1999 46 39 84.8
1998 27 22 81.5
1997 36 28 77.8
lifetime 79.7%
Brown age 28
2007 34 28 82.4
2006 31 25 80.6
2005 25 18 72
2004 25 23 92
2003 30 22 73.3
lifetime 80%
Josh's superbowl year was the same as Mare's last bad (and worst) year w/ the Phins. And the Phins had bad special teams that year too.
Mare goes to N.O. w/ is injured and forced to play, makes 10 of 17 GF's and his average tanks.
If his leg is better and we can have a good kicking team, I'm thinking he will be fine.
~GnarlyHawk.