Blair Walsh‘s struggles have not prompted Mike Zimmer to seek outside competition to push the embattled kicker, yet, Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The third-year Vikings coach said it’s not yet time to invite competition for the team’s fifth-year kicker despite his issues since the Vikes’ painful wild-card defeat.
Walsh has a first-team All-Pro honor, in 2012, on his resume and has only missed five field goals in a season once — in 2014. Even last year before the disastrous 27-yard miss that would have beaten the Seahawks, he made 34-of-39 tries. However, the Vikings’ stellar start this season hasn’t included one from their place kicker.
The 26-year-old has missed three field goals (8-for-11) and two extra points, giving him the 28th-best conversion rate in the league. While he made all three of his field goals against the Packers and Panthers in Weeks 2-3, he missed from 46 against the Giants on Monday and from 37 against the Titans in Week 1. Walsh missed four PATs last season.
Minnesota signed Walsh to a four-year, $14MM extension last summer, with the deal keeping him under contract with the franchise until the 2019 season. At $3.25MM per year, Walsh is the league’s fifth-highest-paid kicker in terms of AAV.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I feel bad for the dude.