When the Dolphins cut kicker Dan Carpenter last week, we pointed out that teams don’t tend to use draft choices on kickers if they aren’t going to give them a roster spot come the regular season.
It’s second verse same as the first in Buffalo on Monday with the Bills joining their AFC East rivals by moving on from a veteran kicker to hand the job to a rookie. The Bills announced that they have released longtime kicker Rian Lindell, clearing the way for sixth-round pick Dustin Hopkins to take over the job.
Lindell spent the last 10 years doing the placekicking for the Bills, making him the longest-tenured player on the roster this summer right up until the point that the guillotine fell on Monday morning. Lindell made just over 83 percent of his field goals over that period of time and held off a challenge from another draft pick, John Potter, last season before finally getting replaced by a younger model this year.
Lindell’s name will likely pop up on the same lists as Carpenter’s when teams look to make a change at kicker in the weeks and months to come.