It’s not the biggest news of the day, but the Bengals are set to keep a key special teams contributor, as Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com reports (via Twitter) that kicker Mike Nugent is expected to return to Cincinnati on a two-year deal. Nugent was set scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday.
Originally a second-round pick out of Ohio State, the 33-year-old Nugent has been the Bengals’ placekicker since 2010. He converted 78.8% of his field goals last season, missing seven kicks (though three were from 50+ yards). That figure was his lowest percentage of made kicks during his time in Cincinnati, and he wasn’t overly effective in generating touchbacks — he rated No. 21 among all kickers in that regard.
Nugent earned a base salary of $1.3MM in 2014, and I’d expect his new deal to be near that number.