ReutersThe kicker whose missed field goal at the end of the AFC Championship Game ended the Ravens’ 2011 season will not return to the Ravens for the 2012 season.
Billy Cundiff has been released by the Ravens, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Although Cundiff was a Pro Bowler in 2010 and, signed a five-year contract in 2011 and has been a very good kicker for much of his time in Baltimore, this move doesn’t come as a surprise. Undrafted rookie kicker Justin Tucker has looked good in training camp and the preseason, and cutting Cundiff saves the Ravens about $1.2 million in cap space.
Some teams may show interest in the 32-year-old Cundiff as a free agent, but that AFC Championship Game-ending miss will be fresh in many teams’ minds, and so will the fact that Cundiff has made only one of his last ten field goal attempts from 50 yards and beyond. Cundiff has fallen a long way since playing in the Pro Bowl a year and a half ago.
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Go get this guy, Steelers!
Justin Tucker will be the best kicker this team has had since Matt Stover.
Noooo, not Billy Cundiff! Oh wait, this should have happened 6 months ago. If the Niners have any sense Kyle Williams will be next.
That took a lot longer than expected…
Hah! good riddance
Not really a shock to Ravens fans, not only because of the missed field goal but then because of his latest comments about how “his services would be wanted elsewhere”. Time to test the waters there Bill
A classless move, eh Ravenator?
Honestly, who would you rather have kicking a game winning field goal in the playoffs? A veteran kicker who missed one last year, or a rookie who’s yet to even sniff a regular season game?
Joe says whats $1.2 mill you need to have a quick $100 mill to sign the best QB ever to play in the NFL
WOOOHOOO……..They made the right choice. I was alittle afraid they would make the wrong choice.
Short-sighted Ravens.
@notrelated says:
Aug 26, 2012 1:06 PM
Honestly, who would you rather have kicking a game winning field goal in the playoffs? A veteran kicker who missed one last year, or a rookie who’s yet to even sniff a regular season game?
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The answer is THIS rookie, plain and simple. He played at a big school, and will not have the rookie mentality after playing a full season. Would you want to trot Scott Norwood out there to “redeem” himself? No way. Too much pressure on the guy to make up for it, than a guy that is trying to pave the way to be a great kicker.
Cundiff is only 32 years old? It seems like he’s been around forever.
Not classless when tucker outkicks cundiff
Keep on hating haters
It’s not you Billy, it’s Tucker. He is more accurate, younger, cheaper and hasn’t blown an AFCC for us.
This kid will be a long term fix.
That’s what I’m saying what took so long. Oh yea cocaine is a hell of drug. I’m rich bitch
Tucker was kicking 65 yd field goals in warmups. Kid gas a hugeeee leg
Not shocked. I’m sure Billy is not shocked either. Tucker out kicked him. Tucker is younger, cheaper and better. No brainer. Good luck Billy.
Congrats Justin! The kid can handle pressure kicks. Ask an aggy fan.
So if the niners sign him, does that mean they lose it in the divisional playoff game this year. Ill start making bets
I’m amazed Ray Lewis didn’t do this in the stadium parking lot 6 months ago.
Thanks for all the clutch kicks Billy! We’ll miss you here in Baltimore
Signed,
Nobody
Now he can go back to using his birth name: Ray Finkle.
Wait until he misses one against the Steelers!!! Then we’ll see what the baltimore ‘fans” have to say then…
Steelers should jump on this guy to take DeCastros’ place.
Time will tell, but I think that loss in the AFC Championship Game could very well go down as the most crushing loss in NFL history. If the Ravens bounce back and win a Super Bowl or two it will be forgotten, but if they don’t, that game will be infamous.
expect Kicker Olindo Mare to join him in Free agents soon Panthers really like Justin Medlock
if it were up to Raven fans they wouldn’t have cut Billy Cundiff at this time…..they would have cut his throat last January
Hopefully cutting Cundiff will make Harbaugh’s nightmares go away. It’s obvious that shank is still in his head.
Can’t believe they cut last years team MVP.
kickers don’t matter unless your team’s sucks, but harbaugh is the guy who screwed up that kick in new england. should’ve called time out so the kick team didn’t have to rush onto the field
oh, and field goal % is highly variable from year to year, but cundiff was great on kickoffs, which is a repeatable skill
yes because it takes a classy organization like the Ravens to operate like this…
lead the kicker on, give him the impression he has an honest chance to recover from a crushing missed FG, ignoring the fact if their WR’s could simply hold onto the ball, that FG wouldn’t have even came into play, and the fact the coaching staff failed to call a TIME OUT, instead rushing him out there…
And then cutting him on the first round of cuts.
Frankly, it’s a bold and dangerous move. Putting all your eggs in a rookie FG kickers basket, especially when the division might come down to the Ravens/Steelers matchups, not to mention many of the other games the Ravens play, they may end up really regretting this move.
FG kicking isn’t the Ravens problem. Choking every single time they are a step from the Super Bowl is.
Or I suppose here come the “the refs screwed us over” comments.
It still amuses me that all the ravens fans act like that FG would have one the game, it would have simply lead to overtime, I’ll take Brady over Flacco in overtime