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Kai Forbath

NFC South Notes: Bucs, Forbath, Saints

September 17th, 2020 at 5:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Currently in the Buccaneers‘ concussion protocol, Chris Godwin may miss their Week 2 game against the Panthers. But the 2019 breakout wide receiver still looms as a candidate to sign a lucrative extension. The fourth-year wideout is willing to be patient ahead of his next contract, with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com noting (Insider link) the former third-round pick is willing to negotiate with the Bucs through the franchise tag or ahead of free agency. In April, Jason Licht said the team wants Godwin around for the long haul.

The Bucs already authorized a $16.5MM-per-year deal for Mike Evans — one of just two players ever to start a career with six straight 1,000-yard seasons (along with Randy Moss) — and the receiver market has ballooned since. A Godwin deal could come in north of $20MM annually, which would put Evans in a bit of a strange spot. With Godwin and Evans a big part of Tom Brady‘s two-year Tampa Bay commitment, the younger of the two Pro Bowl Bucs wideouts stands in good position as his contract season begins.

Here is the latest from Tampa and other NFC South cities:

  • Lavonte David began negotiating with the Bucs on another extension nearly three weeks ago. The sides have not made much progress, but Fowler notes David wants to retire as a Buccaneer. The 2012 second-round pick signed a five-year, $50.25MM deal in 2015. David joins Godwin as a contract-year Buccaneer, so the team will need to address one of these deals before free agency — in order to keep the franchise tag free for the other. David, 30, led all linebackers with 724 solo tackles during the 2010s and can conceivably push for a deal in the Bobby Wagner neighborhood ($18MM AAV).
  • Godwin and Evans represent a key reason why Leonard Fournette opted for a Tampa stay. The former Jaguars running back said the weapons the Bucs possess played a role in him agreeing to head to south Florida, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. As the centerpiece of the Jaguars’ offense for a while, Fournette faced stacked boxes on 39% of his carries from 2017-19, Palmer notes. Fournette received six touches in his Bucs debut but figures to become a bigger part of the offense in the games to come.
  • In addition to trading for Rob Gronkowski, the Bucs made another move to accommodate their new quarterback. They have given Brady’s trainer, Alex Guerrero, an office at their facility, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports notes. The Patriots did this at one point too but removed the TB12 co-architect’s office later. Guerrero is working with Brady, Gronk and several other Bucs, per La Canfora, who adds that some believe the Pats souring on Guerrero helped lead Brady out of New England.
  • The Panthers worked out Kai Forbath on Thursday. Second-year kicker Joey Slye, whom the team went with over former Pro Bowler Graham Gano, made all three of his field goal tries in Week 1 but missed a PAT. Slye missed four extra points last season. Carolina does not have a kicker on its practice squad.
  • Panthers rookie UDFA Sam Franklin has moved from linebacker to safety, according to defensive coordinator Phil Snow (via The Athletic’s Joe Person, on Twitter). Franklin’s primary role still figures to be special teams this season. He played 18 special teams snaps against the Raiders compared to just two on defense.
  • The Saints worked out defensive lineman Anthony Zettel on Thursday. The journeyman D-lineman signed a one-year Vikings deal earlier this year but did not stick on their roster.

Browns Work Out Folk, Parkey, Others

August 19th, 2020 at 4:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns may be holding a kicker competition. They brought in Nick Folk, Kai Forbath, Cody Parkey and Matthew McCrane for workouts Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Austin Seibert resides as Cleveland’s incumbent kicker. He kicked for the Browns last season, going 25-for-29. The ex-Oklahoma Sooner did miss five extra points, however, and may be on the verge of a training camp battle.

Cleveland has not seen much continuity at kicker lately. The team has changed kickers in each of the past four years, with Zane Gonzalez and Greg Joseph enjoying one-season stays. Seibert beat out Joseph last summer.

Folk has the most experience of the tryout legs, having kicked in the NFL since 2007. The 35-year-old specialist kicked in seven Patriots games last season. Parkey, whose “double doink” miss in a 2018 wild-card game set off rampant Bears kicker uncertainty, resurfaced in three Titans games last season. He made 3 of 3 field goals during that stay. Both Folk and Parkey made Pro Bowls as rookies — in 2007 and ’14, respectively.

Forbath was also part of the Pats’ post-Stephen Gostkowski kicker shuffle; he also kicked in three Cowboys games in 2019. McCrane did not play last season but kicked in four games as a rookie in 2018.

Cowboys To Release Kai Forbath

August 1st, 2020 at 3:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

A veteran of six NFL teams, Kai Forbath will return to free agency. The Cowboys cut their incumbent kicker, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This will clear a path for free agent addition Greg Zuerlein.

Given Zuerlein’s pedigree, it was not expected he would have to battle Forbath throughout training camp for the job. The Cowboys gave the longtime Rams kicker a three-year, $7.5MM deal.

Brett Maher‘s struggles prompted the Cowboys to change kickers last season. They added Forbath in December. Interestingly, they re-signed him in March but gave him a one-year contract worth the league minimum. The Cowboys will incur barely $130K in dead money by cutting the soon-to-be 33-year-old kicker.

Forbath has played for three teams — the Cowboys, Patriots and Jaguars — since the 2018 season. Forbath was one of several kickers the Pats used after Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury, though he only kicked in one game with New England. Forbath went 11-for-11 on field goals last season, including a 10-for-10 stretch with the Cowboys. Forbath, who made 15 of 15 field goals for the Vikings in 2016, should be on the radar for future kicking gigs.

Although he also kicked for the Vikings and Saints, the eight-year veteran is most known for his work in Washington. He began his career as Washington’s kicker in 2012 and held that job for nearly four seasons.

Cowboys To Re-Sign Kai Forbath

March 18th, 2020 at 3:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Cowboys are keeping things steady at kicker. The team is re-signing Kai Forbath, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

We heard on Monday that Dallas was interested in bringing back Forbath, but that they were also exploring reuniting free agent kicker Greg Zuerlein with their new special teams coordinator John Fassel. It’s unclear if that pursuit didn’t work out because Zuerlein will be headed back to the Rams or elsewhere, or if they simply decided to go with Forbath.

The journeyman kicker spent three games with the Cowboys down the stretch, making all ten of his field goal attempts and all ten of his extra points. Dallas got rid of their longtime kicker Dan Bailey two seasons ago to go with Brett Maher, but Maher struggled mightily last year. Eventually they cut Maher after a couple of meltdowns and went with Forbath, who also kicked for the Patriots in two games last year.

Cowboys Eyeing Greg Zuerlein, Kai Forbath

March 16th, 2020 at 7:40pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cowboys are reportedly eyeing free agent kickers. Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports (via Twitter) that the organization has expressed interest in re-signing Kai Forbath. More notably, the reporter notes that Greg Zuerlein is on the team’s radar.

Greg The Leg has spent his entire seven-year career with the Rams, including a 2017 campaign where he earned a Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro recognition. While the veteran has connected on 82-percent of his field goal attempts during his career, that number dropped to only 72.7-percent in 2019.

Forbath had a three-game stint with the Cowboys last season, connecting on all 10 of his field goal attempts (including seven from the 40-49-yard range). He also spent two games with New England during the 2019 campaign.

The veteran has had stints with seven different organizations during his career, appearing in 81 career games.

Cowboys Waive Brett Maher, Sign Kai Forbath

December 9th, 2019 at 12:29pm CST by Rory Parks

The Cowboys are making a change at kicker. Dallas has waived Brett Maher and is signing Kai Forbath, per a team announcement.

In the wake of Maher’s struggles in 2019, the Cowboys worked out three kickers last week, but they elected to give Maher another shot. Unfortunately, Maher missed a field goal attempt in the team’s loss to the Bears on Thursday, so Dallas hosted another workout today. Forbath was obviously one of the three kickers the team brought in, along with Nick Rose and Tristan Vizcaino (Rose and Vizcaino were also part of last week’s audition).

Forbath has much more experience than his fellow tryout candidates, which obviously appeals to the Cowboys. Over parts of seven seasons with five different clubs, Forbath has a strong 85.8% success rate on field goal attempts. He kicked for the Patriots last week as a one-game fill-in for Nick Folk, making a 23-yard field goal attempt and going 1-2 on extra points.

Maher, meanwhile, hits the waiver wire after he was unable to replicate his solid 2018 performance. He converted just 66.7% of his field goal tries in 2019, and he missed all but one of his five tries from 40-49 yards. The Cowboys, in the thick of a division title race, exercised as much patience as they could but ultimately were compelled to move on.

Cowboys Working Out Kickers Monday

December 8th, 2019 at 6:25pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It looks like Dallas is about to make their kicking change, and they could be down to a couple of finalists. The Cowboys will workout Kai Forbath, Nick Rose, and Tristan Vizcaino on Monday, sources told Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter links).

Brett Maher had already been on thin ice, and then he missed another crucial kick during Dallas’ loss to the Bears. A couple of days ago following the Cowboys’ latest embarrassing defeat on Thursday Night Football, head coach Jason Garrett seemed to heavily indicate that they were going to make a change. “Obviously, we have to do a close evaluation of it,” Garrett said. “We brought three kickers in earlier in the week. We decided to give Brett an opportunity this week. It didn’t work out. So we have to take a real close, hard look at that.”

Garrett was referring to the kicker workout the Cowboys held last week, which included Vizcaino and Roose. They opted not to sign anyone and give Maher one more week to prove himself, but apparently liked what they saw from those two. Vizcaino is a Washington product who has never kicked in the NFL, and he made only 12 kicks during his college career. Rose has had brief stints with the Chargers and Redskins.

Forbath, the former Redskins and Vikings kicker, resurfaced briefly with the Patriots last week. He was only used as a one-game fill-in after Nick Folk was sidelined by an appendectomy. He missed an extra point during his one game with New England. Maher surprisingly beat out longtime kicker Dan Bailey last offseason and had a solid rookie campaign with Dallas, but it looks like his time has ran out. Expect word of a signing early this week.

Patriots Waive K Kai Forbath

December 2nd, 2019 at 5:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have waived kicker Kai Forbath, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). To fill his spot on the roster, the Pats claimed defensive tackle Albert Huggins off of waivers from the Eagles. 

[RELATED: Rob Gronkowski Ineligible To Return In 2019]

The Patriots signed Forbath last week as a one-game fill-in for Nick Folk. Forbath made his lone field goal attempt from 23 yards out, but missed one of his two extra point tries. It’s believed that Folk will be ready to go for Sunday, but even if he’s not, the Patriots will look for help elsewhere.

The cup of coffee completes yet another NFL stop for Forbath, who has now kicked in games for the Patriots, Redskins, Saints, Vikings, and Jaguars. Meanwhile, he’s the Patriots fourth kicker of the 2019 season, following Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, and Folk.

With the Pats, Folk has connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries and all three of his extra point attempts across three games. Two of those misses in his last outing against the Cowboys, but the Pats still came away with the 13-9 win, with Folk’s 42-yard connection in the fourth quarter helping to seal the deal.

After Sunday’s loss to the Texans, the 10-2 Patriots will finish out the regular season against the Chiefs, Bengals, Bills, and Dolphins.

Patriots To Sign Kai Forbath

November 28th, 2019 at 4:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are expected to sign veteran kicker Kai Forbath to replace Nick Folk, sources tell ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). With that, Forbath will serve as the Pats’ kicker against the Texans on Sunday. 

On Thursday, we learned that Folk will miss one game as he recovers from an appendectomy. The surgery was minimally invasive, so the belief is that he will be ready to roll against the Chiefs on December 8.

Forbath kicked in three games for the Jaguars last season and served as the Vikings’ full-time kicker in 2017. For his career, Forbath has made 85.7% of his field goal tries for the Redskins, Saints, Vikes, and Jaguars.

In other Pats news, the club released tackle Jared Veldheer from the reserve/retired list earlier this week. Despite his injury issues, the nine-year veteran is reportedly in good shape and could profile as an emergency fill-in for a contender in need.

NFL Workout Updates: 11/27/19

November 27th, 2019 at 7:53pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Here is the latest from the workout circuit on Wednesday:

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington

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