Patriots Replace Vinatieri

[Hostile]

[FONT=arial,] Patriots bring back safety Jones, sign kicker Gramatica [/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,]
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Kicker Martin Gramatica, who was out of football all of last season, was signed by New England Thursday as a potential replacement for the departed Adam Vinatieri.

[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,]The Patriots also signed safety Tebucky Jones, who was one of their two first-round draft picks in 1998 but was traded away four years ago.

[/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,]Vinatieri, who kicked last-minute field goals to win two Super Bowls for New England, signed last month with Indianapolis.

[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,]Gramatica was one of the NFL's better kickers early in his career with Tampa Bay, which began in 1999. He made the Pro Bowl in 2000.

[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,]But his performance fell off badly in 2004, when he made just 11-of-19 field goals and was cut after 11 games. For his career, he has made 76.5 percent of his career field goal attempts (137-of-179) and 11-of-12 attempts in the playoffs.

[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,]Jones, drafted as a cornerback, was moved to safety in 2000 and was a starter on the New England team that won the Super Bowl after the 2001 season. He was traded to New Orleans in 2002 and had the best season of his career with the Saints in 2003, when he had 101 tackles.

[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,][FONT=arial,]Jones played in Miami last season and was limited to six games by injury.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]​

 

[BigDFan5]

Well thats an even swap.

 

[big dog cowboy]

The downgrading of NE's roster continues.

 

[lane]

The downgrading of NE's roster continues.

for reals.

 

[speedkilz88]

Knowing their luck, Gramatica will be in probowl form again. That team has had the best of luck this decade. Hopefully its finally run out, I do think they have lost a lot this offseason.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Gramatica was one of the NFL's better kickers early in his career with Tampa Bay, which began in 1999. He made the Pro Bowl in 2000.

But his performance fell off badly in 2004, when he made just 11-of-19 field goals and was cut after 11 games. For his career, he has made 76.5 percent of his career field goal attempts (137-of-179) and 11-of-12 attempts in the playoffs.

This looks like the Pats are headed to the rebuilding phase!