Akers Staying In NFC East?

The writing is on the wall for Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers and that writing says his chances of returning are minimal. First, he turned down the Eagles modest extension offer. Second, he had his worst performance in years in the Eagles’ divisional round loss to the Green Bay Packers. Lastly, the team drafted kicker Alex Henery in the fourth round. With all of that going on in the past couple months he’ll be looking for a new home, according to Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times, that home could be with one of the Eagles divisional rivals.

Dallas and Washington are both looking to upgrade their kicking game and the Giants, while not as desperate as the other two, are known to have people in the organization who really like Akers. (Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times)

It’s not an under statement at all when he says the Cowboys and Redskins are looking to upgrade. In fact, I’d say both teams are desperate as they haven’t had solid kicking games in a while.

Here are the numbers of all four divisional kickers:
Eagles – David Akers – 32/38 FG for 84% with a long of 50
Cowboys – David Buehler – 24/32 FG for 75% with a long of 53
Giants – Lawrence Tynes – 19/23 FG for 82% with a long of 53
Redskins – Graham Gano – 28/39 FG for 68% with a long of 49
So who is the more likely of the group to sign Akers?

For the Giants there really isn’t the need. Only way he’d be an upgrade is in the fact that head coach Tom Coughlin would trust him more then he does Tynes.

The Cowboys are also a possibility but I’m not sure if they’d bring in Akers. Prior to the lockout the team signed Kris Brown to challenge Buehler. Brown hasn’t been an every week kicker since 2009 but he did do a good job filling in with the San Diego Chargers in 2010. He appeared in three games while Nate Kaeding was injured, hitting four of five field goals, with his only miss being of 50+. If Kris can show that accuracy in camp there may not be need for another kicker.

My guess would be the Redskins. Gano was just horrendous in 2010 and there aren’t any quality kickers on the market to challenge him. I’m sure Dan Snyder wouldn’t mind spending the money to upgrade the special teams and also stick it to a divisional rival. He’d probably salivate at the chance of having Akers attempting a field goal with a game on the line in Philadelphia.

On a side note that most probably don’t know is that Akers is not a career member of the Eagles. He appeared in one game for the Redskins in his rookie season of 1998-99. So in a way joining the ‘Skins would kind of bring his career full circle.

I just wonder what non-divisional rival puts in a bid……

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Tags: Dallas Cowboys, David Akers, David Buehler, Graham Gano, Lawrence Tynes, New York Giants, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins