June 01, 2010|By Jamison Hensley, The Baltimore Sun
The Ravens are close to striking a one-year deal with kicker Shayne Graham, according to a league source, but the sides surprisingly failed to finalize the agreement as of Tuesday night.
This long-awaited move is still expected to occur and would give the Ravens their most established kicker since Matt Stover.
Graham, 32, the fourth-most accurate kicker in NFL history who struggled in last season's playoffs, would then compete against Billy Cundiff to be the Ravens' kicker this season, although Graham's experience likely gives him the edge.
The Ravens took a tremendous amount of heat from their fan base last season after not re-signing Matt Stover and watching his replacements (Cundiff and Steve Hauschka) combine for 21 of 30 field goals (70 percent), sixth worst in the NFL.
Graham, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2003 to 2009, has the highest success rate (86.7 percent) in team history. He has plenty of leg strength to convert from beyond 50 yards and he's an asset on kickoffs (37 touchbacks over the past four seasons).
But Graham has remained unsigned three months into free agency because he is coming off one of the worst seasons of his nine-year NFL career. He made only 23 of 28 field goals (some of the problems can be attributed to long-snapper troubles) and slipped in the playoffs. In the 24-14 playoff loss to the New York Jets, Graham missed key field goals from 35 and 28 yards while playing at home.
"He's a guy who's had a lot of success," coach John Harbaugh said of Graham in late March. "Obviously, [the Bengals] had some operation problems that hurt them a little bit. But he's a hard worker and I think he's determined to prove himself again. I know he knows what kind of kicker he is."
A Pro Bowl kicker in 2005, Graham was considered one of the best free-agent kickers available this year. The Bengals decided to replace him with Dave Rayner and Mike Nugent.
The Ravens have seemingly waited for Graham after not actively pursuing Neil Rackers ( Houston Texans) and Jay Feely ( Arizona Cardinals). Graham first met with Harbaugh, owner Steve Bisciotti and general manager Ozzie Newsome at the NFL owners meetings in late March.
As a member of the AFC North rival Bengals, Graham has earned respect from the Ravens over the years. He was 28 of 33 on field goals against the Ravens, including 15 of 18 in games at Baltimore. His best performance was seven field goals — the second-most in NFL history — in a 2007 game at M&T Bank Stadium.
The addition of Graham wouldn't come as a surprise for Cundiff. After replacing a struggling Hauschka at midseason in 2009, Cundiff received praise from the Ravens' coaching staff for his steady performance but he was never given any guarantees for 2010.
He converted 15 of 20 field-goal tries (75 percent) for the Ravens, including all three of his attempts in the playoffs.
Asked last week about the Ravens bringing in another kicker, Cundiff said, "Teams let you know when they don't want you around. As long as I'm here, I could really care less about whatever is said. I have a chance to control what I do, and that's go out and make kicks."
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