Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski has signed his franchise tag, locking him onto the roster for the 2015 season. Gostkowski is New England's all time leading scorer and has led the league in scoring for three straight seasons. He is the most accurate kicker in NFL History, out of kickers with 150+ attempts.
Patriots news: K Stephen Gostkowski has signed his franchise tag tender worth $4.59M for the 2015 season, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2015
The Patriots have until July 15 to sign kicker Stephen Gostkowski to a long-term deal. Same goes for all players who've been tagged.
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) March 6, 2015
Q: Can Gostkowski still sign a long-term deal that will lower his cap number? A: Yes
— Miguel@PatsCap.Com (@patscap) March 6, 2015
Gostkowski signing his tag will help the Patriots as they can now find a long term extension to reduce his current cap hit. There is prior precedence for a quick turnaround as Vince Wilfork was franchised in 2010 and signed an extension on March 5th, the very first day of free agency.
The Patriots will want to extend Gostkowski to open up as much cap space as possible to have room for Devin McCourty and Darrelle Revis to return.