Vinatieri was unknown. Gould was a nobody.

Kickers come out of nowhere. Often they go back to nowhere.

Absent signing a “proven” guy to an overpriced contract (ahem, Parkey), you’re gambling.

If kicker is the biggest problem we deal with all season, we’re winning the Super Bowl.

I’ll take these point-by-point because these are basically ALL the points.

(1) What does Vinatieri and Gould were unknown mean? Their rookie years for the Patriots and Bears were 1996 and 2005, respectively. The teams they started for in those seasons were coming off 6 and 5 win campaigns, respectively. Both teams had wonderful seasons but had almost zero expectations. You can gamble with young players at pivotal positions when your expectations are low.

(2) “Absent…you’re gambling” is something you write when your team just missed the boat on a kicker signing. There is a dramatic difference between signing a kicker to an expensive multi-year contract and hosting a camp battle between two men who’ve never attempted a field goal in the league. Wouldn’t bringing in Matt Bryant – who barely missed a kick last season – make some sense? You could still give one of the kids the job but at least have the veteran, reliable option.

(3) Kicker was the biggest problem the Bears had heading into January last year and the Bears missed a chip shot field goal to advance in the playoffs.