HEADLINES

Jay Feely

Cardinals Release Jay Feely, Max Starks, 11 Others

August 25th, 2014 at 12:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

12:13pm: In addition to Feely, the Cardinals have cut 12 other players, trimming their roster to the required 75-man limit, per a press release:

Starks is 10-year veteran who has spent most of his career with the Steelers, while Lindley started four games for the Cards in 2012.

11:35am: The Cardinals have released veteran kicker Jay Feely, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Feely, a 13-year veteran, had been with Arizona since 2010.

Feely, 38, thanked the franchise on Twitter: “It’s been an honor to play for the [Cardinals and owner] Michael Bidwill, thank you for your leadership and friendship. AZ will still be home!” The former Michigan Wolverine has lived a kicker’s nomadic life, spending time with the Falcons, Giants, Dolphins, Chiefs, and Jets. For his career, Feely has converted 82.7% of his field goals (329-for-398).

The Cardinals save $635K against the cap with this move, but money probably wasn’t Arizona’s prime motivation. 23-year-old Chandler Cantanzaro, the only other PK on the Cards’ roster, will presumably become the starting kicker. He was an undrafted free agent out of Clemson.

It’s just my speculation, but I wonder if the Broncos would be interested in bringing Feely aboard. Matt Prater was recently suspended for the first four games of the season, and Feely could add some stability to the kicking position until Prater is ready to return.

Cardinals Re-Sign Jay Feely

March 11th, 2014 at 6:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

TUESDAY, 6:10pm: It’s a minimum-salary pact for Feely, with a $65K roster bonus, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Feely will earn $1.02MM in total.

MONDAY, 6:22pm: It’s a one-year deal for Feely, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral.com (via Twitter).

5:46pm: Kicker Jay Feely will re-sign with the Cardinals, according to a tweet from Feely’s personal account. The 37-year-old veteran, like most kickers, has made his rounds through the NFL, playing for six teams over the course of 13 seasons. He signed with the Cardinals before the 2010 season.

Last year, Feely made 30-of-36 field goals, with a long of 52 yards, and converted every extra point attempt. He rated 14th in terms of kickoff distance, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). For his career his field goal success rate stands at 82.7%.

Terms of the contract are not yet public, but Feely’s annual salary will likely be closer to the $1MM Billy Cundiff will earn on his new contract, rather than the multi-year, ~$3MM deals signed by Graham Gano and Dan Bailey.

David Akers, Rian Lindell Won’t Be Re-Signed

March 7th, 2014 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of NFC teams won’t re-sign their kickers, according to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports, who reports (via Twitter) that the Lions and Buccaneers won’t bring back David Akers and Rian Lindell respectively. Cardinals kicker Jay Feely also appears set to hit the open market next week, says Marvez.

Lions GM Martin Mayhew told reporters at the combine in Indianapolis that the team didn’t expect to bring back Akers, so that doesn’t come as a real surprise. Detroit has signed two kickers – John Potter and Giorgio Tavecchio – to futures contracts, so one of them will likely take over for the veteran Akers. In Tampa Bay, Connor Barth should be recovered from a torn Achilles in time for the 2014 season, so Lindell’s services will no longer be needed.

Feely’s case is a little trickier. The 37-year-old has been the Cardinals’ kicker for the last four seasons, and converted 30 of 36 field goal tries in 2013. The team doesn’t have a logical in-house replacement for Feely, so if he’s not re-signed, perhaps other free agents like Phil Dawson or Josh Brown could become targets.