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Special Teams Will be Better in 2012


panthers55

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We obviously are making special teams a big emphasis in 2012. First of all, when we looked at bringing in guys on offense and defense we also evaluated how they would contribute on special teams as well.e have brought in guys not only for their play on defense or offense but also with an emphasis on special teams. Tolbert, Nakamura, Onatolu and Smith all were brought in for both their ability to improve the offense and defense but also because they were special team standouts. We also are getting back guys like Barnidge who went on IR last year and were missed on special teams especially.

Then when you consider that we brought in a number of special teams guys like Joe Adams, Brad Nortman, Justin Medlock and Nick Harris to provide competition for the guys who were here last year, it is clear that there are going to be a number of contested positions on special teams this year.

In addition to the players, we have also helped Murphy by adding an assistant special teams coach Richard Rodgers who coaches special teams in college.

Here is an article on Panthers.com discussing this......

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Murphy-polishing-special-teams/1da6f777-14b1-413f-ad20-61cfa1b9e8a6

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I still think we should bite the bullet and cut Mare this year. Even with the bonus accelerating, we would save about $600,000 on this year's cap. Yes, we would still be on the hook for another $1.5 million in bonus for next year, but considering he is due to make well over $2,000,000 in 2013, that doesn't look so bad.

It just doesn't seem to make sense to be on the hook for over $3,000,000 each year for the next 3 years for a kicker. Our offense is not the John Fox offense. We are a high scoring team that relies much less on field goals than past squads. Even if a cheaper kicker performs slightly worse than Mare (and that is highly debatable), that money could be better spent elsewhere.

A premier placekicker is a luxury that this offense can do without in my opinion, especially with the new kickoff placement.

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