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Atlanta Falcons kicker extraordinaire Matt Bryant is a special football player. 42 year old kickers are supposed to be at home, on their couches, well into retirement. But age ain’t nothing but a number to Bryant. (Rest in peace, Aaliyah.) Without further adieu, I bring you the Falcoholic’s kicker review.
Bryant knocked down 34 of 39 FG attempts during the regular season (87 percent; 15th in the NFL). He converted 17 of 19 40+ yard FG attempts, including 8 of 9 from 50+ yards. He converted more 50+ yard attempts than any kicker in the NFL this season, including the postseason. Three of his misses were between 30 and 39 yards, which is odd. He converted all 35 of his point after attempts. He knocked down 5 of 5 FG attempts during the post-season, including two 50+ yard FGs.
Bryant is currently an unrestricted free agent. Matt “Periodically Money” Chambers wrote about the preliminary contract negotiations, which are already underway. Bryant represented a $3.08 million cap hit in 2017. His $1.4 million base salary in 2017 was only $400k more than the league minimum. (It’s worth noting that he made much more money earlier in his career with the Falcons.) I have to assume the Falcons could retain him with a similar investment next season. We know he loves playing for the Falcons, and we know his family is quite fond of the team as well. The question is whether the team has any reason to think some sort of regression is on the horizon. In my mind, they don’t.
Your thoughts?