Who is the next Packer Kicker?
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=649165
Kickers create a surplus. But Packers could struggle finding a trade partner.
Sometime in the next two weeks, the Green Bay Packers are going to decide to keep either Dave Rayner or Mason Crosby as their kicker. But this year, most National Football League teams appear settled with their kicking games, and if there is a team interested in the loser of the Packers' competition, it's questionable whether it would spend a draft pick in a trade instead of just waiting for someone to get cut. There aren't any teams that can be categorized as desperate for a kicker at this stage of training camp. Only three teams - Green Bay, Kansas City and Dallas - have rookies who are in serious contention for a starting job and few others have a young kicker who is going to win the job. Of the teams that would probably consider an upgrade, Atlanta, Kansas City, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Washington and the New York Giants are the most likely to be keeping a watch on the Packers' competition.
Atlanta and Kansas City are probably the most likely to consider a trade, although neither team has a serious problem at the position. The Falcons are going with Billy Cundiff, who lost out to Rayner in Packers training camp last year, and the Chiefs are going with rookie Justin Medlock, a fifth-round pick who has made two of four field-goal attempts this summer. A few teams would definitely consider Rayner as a kickoff man if he were the one to lose out, but it's hard to imagine anyone making a trade to fill that need. What's more, the loser of the Rayner-Crosby battle won't be the only kicker available come cutdown time. The St. Louis Rams have been impressed with Kevin Lowell, who has hit all four of his field-goal attempts and averaged 62.8 yards on his kickoffs. Lowell won't beat out veteran Jeff Wilkins and will be on the street sometime in the next two weeks.
Thompson said experience told him not to rule out the possibility that the Packers could find a trading partner once they decide which kicker they're going to keep. He said it was likely a team or two are following the Packers' kicking situation just in case.
"It varies," Thompson said. "I certainly think it's in the realm of possibility that someone might be shopping. At the same time, you just never know how it's going to work out."
Asked if another NFL team had told Thompson to keep it in mind once it makes a decision on its kicker, the Packers general manager was coy. "Maybe," Thompson said. Maybe? "Maybe." And that means? "I can't tell you."
At this point, no one in the organization will say whether one of the kickers has an edge, but based purely on practice and game numbers, Crosby, a sixth-round pick, has been slightly better. He passed one significant test Saturday night against Seattle when he kicked in rainy conditions, nailing a 37-yard field goal and three extra points. Still, Rayner has made better than 80% of his field-goal attempts thus far, and his kickoffs have been longer. This week will be yet another case of head-to-head competition for the two young kickers, with the third exhibition against Jacksonville scheduled for Thursday. Last year, the Packers cut Cundiff midway through camp so Rayner could have the luxury of handling all the kicks in preparation for the start of the season. It won't be that way this year because the race is too tight to call at this point. Thompson said he was not even thinking about trade possibilities at this point. "We're still in the competition thing so we're just sitting back and watching," he said. "We don't keep (running) score, we just go through the process and we'll see how it comes out. Both of them are doing fine."
Note: TT was his usual funny, funny self.
op: 
