6:55pm: It’s a two-year, $6MM deal for Vinatieri, with another $1MM available in incentives, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. $1MM is guaranteed, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
6:23pm: The Colts announced that they’ve re-signed veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri, who will stay in Indianapolis for his age-43 season (and presumably beyond).
“We are thrilled to retain Adam as a member of the Colts family,” said Colts GM Ryan Grigson. “Adam continues to play at the highest level year in and year out and his hard work, consistency and professionalism are a credit to him being the longest tenured active player in the NFL. Adam has won multiple Super Bowls and is a future Hall of Famer. We look forward to continuing to utilize his championship-pedigree and leadership in our program.”
In 2015, Vinatieri connected on 25 of 27 field goal tries, for a 92.6% conversion rate. However, he did occasionally struggle with the longer extra point, missing three of 35 attempts. Still, there were few NFL kickers more reliable than Vinatieri, who is now third on the league’s list of all-time leading scorers. With 2,253 points, Vinatieri could make a run at Morten Andersen (2,544) and Gary Anderson (2,434) if he decides to play for longer than just one more season.
Vinatieri’s previous contract with the Colts, which he signed in March 2014, was worth $5MM over two years, with a modest $500K signing bonus. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him sign a similar pact this time around.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.