The Colts are adding some competition for Rodrigo Blankenship. Indianapolis is signing veteran kicker Eddy Pineiro, his agent Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Indy signed Blankenship as an UDFA out of Georgia last offseason, and he spent his entire rookie season as the team’s kicker. He was shaky at times, and didn’t have a very strong leg at all. He was just 1/3 on attempts from 50+ yards, and the Colts wouldn’t even think about letting him attempt an extra long one. Blankenship was supposed to be an accuracy kicker, and he made 43 of 45 extra point attempts, but he did have a few critical misses from close range.
In the Colts’ playoff loss to the Bills he missed a crucial 33-yard field goal attempt, so it’s not surprising that GM Chris Ballard is adding competition. Pineiro signed with the Raiders in 2018, but spent his entire rookie season on IR. He was traded to the Bears the next offseason, and was Chicago’s kicker for all 16 games in 2019, when he made 23 of 28 field goal attempts and 27 of 29 extra points. He spent all of 2020 on IR.
Not exactly the best person for competition but hey, you gotta do it.
If they are getting this desperate they might as well give Adam Vinatieri a chance at a comeback.