Indianapolis Colts Wisely Re-sign Kicker Adam Vinatieri

After re-signing tight end Dwayne Allen on Monday, the Indianapolis Colts agreed to a new two-year contract with kicker Adam Vinatieri on Tuesday. While Vinatieri is 43 years old, it was a smart move for the Colts to bring the kicker back for two more years. His experience in big games is hard to replace, and he is still making field goals and extra point tries at an efficient rate.

In his 20-year career, Vinatieri has made 84.1 percent of his career field goals and 98.3 percent of his career extra point kicks. Amazingly, he is still getting better even at his old age. Since turning 40 years old before the 2013 season, Vinatieri has made 90 of his last 98 field goal attempts. He was also not affected by the NFL‘s new extra point rules. In 2015, he made 32 of his 35 longer extra point attempts.

Vinatieri is still one of the most reliable kickers in the league today. He has an extensive amount of experience, which includes numerous game-winning kicks in big games. He is most notably known for his game-winning field goals for the New England Patriots in both Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII. Vinatieri’s combination of regular season and postseason success is very rare, which is why he is still a valuable asset for the Colts.

Vinatieri will be entering his 21st NFL season in 2016 and is still one of the league’s top kickers. The Colts were never going to find another kicker with Vinatieri’s efficiency in the 2016 rookie class or in free agency. For this reason, it was a wise decision to bring him back for two more seasons. Despite his age, the Colts have no reason to believe Vinatieri will struggle over the next two seasons.