NFL Player News
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Jake Elliott K | PHI
Bengals' Jake Elliott: Nabbed by Bengals
The Bengals selected Elliott in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, 153rd overall.
Elliott being the first kicker off the board comes as a bit of a surprise with many ranking Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez or Auburn's Daniel Carlson ahead of him. Still, the Bengals are clearly sold on Elliott's ability to the point where they felt comfortable spending a mid-round selection on the former Memphis Tiger. He made all 202 of his extra-point attempts in college and hit 21 of 26 field goals last season. He's in line to compete with veteran Randy Bullock for the Bengals' starting kicking job, but given the team's investment in Elliott, we'll presume that the rookie probably has an edge here.
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Giorgio Tavecchio K | ATL
Raiders' Giorgio Tavecchio: Signs with Raiders
Tavecchio signed a contract with the Raiders on Wednesday.
Tavecchio has spent time with the Packers, Lions and Raiders since 2013, but he's never made an active roster. The signing makes the current offseason the fourth straight that Tavecchio has spent with Oakland. He'll provide competition for Sebastian Janikowski, who will again be the frontrunner for the team's placekicking job.
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Cairo Santos K | CHI
Chiefs' Cairo Santos: Re-signs with Chiefs
Santos has signed his restricted free-agent tender to remain with the Chiefs, ESPN's Adam Teicher reports.
Santos has served as Kansas City's kicker since entering the league three years ago. Last season, the Brazilian converted 31 of his 35 field-goal tries and 36 of his 39 extra-point attempts, tying his career high of 129 total points.
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Nick Folk K | NYJ
Buccaneers' Nick Folk: Signs with Bucs
Folk will sign with the Buccaneers, Peter Schrager of FOX Sports reports.
Folk converted 27 of 31 field goals in 2016, which is a solid campaign in its own right, but it's especially impressive if you know that three of his four missed attempts were actually blocked. Meanwhile, Roberto Aguayo, for whom the Bucs traded up in the second round of last year's draft, was true on just 22 of 31 attempts in a disappointing campaign. While it's fair to wonder whether Folk's signing was simply a motivational tactic to get the underperforming youngster going, this could turn into an outright competition for the starting job if Aguayo continues to fall short of expectations.
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Greg Zuerlein K | NYJ
Rams' Greg Zuerlein: Signs deal with Rams
Zuerlein agreed to a three-year deal with the Rams on Tuesday, Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Zuerlein attempted only 22 field goals in 2016 but converted 19 of them and was perfect from inside of 40 yards. The kicker's deal will keep him with the Rams through the 2019 season. At this point, the main thing limiting Zuerlein's fantasy production is the Rams offense, which was last in the league in both yards and points per game last season.
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Cairo Santos K | CHI
Chiefs' Cairo Santos: Receives one-year tender
Santos received a one-year tender worth $1.797 million from the Chiefs on Thursday, Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star reports.
Consequently, the Chiefs will be able to match any offer Santos receives during 2017 free agency. If the kicker is extended no other competing offers, he would be in line to play the coming season on his tendered contract. Santos was sixth among kickers with 129 points in 2016.
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Brandon McManus K | GB
Broncos' Brandon McManus: Tendered one-year contract
McManus was tendered to a one-year contract by the Broncos on Tuesday, Andrew Mason of the team's official site reports.
McManus will spend at least another season in Denver, this time making $2.75 million, a significant raise for the kicker compared to last season. In 16 games last year, McManus converted 29 of 34 field-goal attempts and 32 of 33 extra-point attempts.
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Graham Gano K | NYG
Panthers' Graham Gano: Rehab going well
Gano's (foot) rehab from offseason surgery appears to be going well after he posted a video of himself running on a treadmill in normal fashion, Anthony Rizzuti of PanthersWire.com reports.
Gano underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in the heel of his left foot back in January, and although he was always expected to return to full health by training camp, the video he recently posted evidenced he's moving well following that operation. After posting his lowest field-goal conversion percentage since 2011 last season, Gano will aim for improvement in the final year of his contract in the upcoming campaign.