Report: Patriots and kicker Stephen Gostkowski working towards a new contract

Man, it’s like our fearless leader Bernd has been texting Bill this week or something:

Bernd on Wednesday: The Patriots have only one real need at the moment

Bill: Yeah, I got it

(hint: that one real need he’s referring to wasn’t whichever wide receiver killed it on your 2014 fantasy team)

After a couple weeks of free agency, kicker Stephen Gostkowski still hadn’t crossed the T’s and dotted the lowercase J’s with anyone despite some outside interest and the possibility he could retire (he IS 35, after all), and now, we know why. According to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran, the question isn’t IF Gostkowski will re-sign with the Patriots, just when and, oh yeah, how many dollars are involved.

There’s precious little in the way of deets available at the moment, but here’s what they do know:

Gostkowski, 35, is not retiring. And while there has been outside interest, he and the Patriots have made progress toward getting him a new deal.

Gostkowski has never been an unrestricted free agent. He was given the franchise tag by the Pats in 2015 and then signed a four-year extension later that same year worth $17.2 million.

Like we said, that’s basically the whole article. Not a whole lot to go on, especially since punter Ryan Allen’s previous contract turned out to be nowhere near what he got earlier this week, in terms of contract length or average annual value. So, there’s that.

EDIT: The Patriots are also sitting on barely enough cap space for a Taco Bell run at the moment, so more than likely, there’s gonna be some other dominos that have to fall before a Gostkowski deal actually happens. Per PatsCap, they’re currently at roughly $2.5 million:

There’s no point in going over SG’s stats for the 800th time because at this point, he’s not going to change whatever opinion you already have of him anyway. There are legitimate discussions to be had about some high-profile misses as of late, and there’s also something to be said for a guy that’s been among the league’s most dead-on balls-accurate kickers since he was drafted out of Memphis in the same year The Departed and Talladega Nights came out. And as everybody who’s not too plastered by kickoff knows, Steve also handles those and handles them well, even with the league changing kickoff rules to try and discourage returns while actually encouraging them, so, there’s always that.

As always, keep it locked on the Pats Pulpit free agency tracker for all the latest news on what moves the Patriots are making, all day, every day.

Oh, and take a break from your bracket getting destroyed and vote in Pats Madness Elite 8 round. It’s more fun than watching your money disintegrate like half the universe. Promise.