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Why did we cut Steve Crhistie


RVJ

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He was injured for 1/2 the season & we chose to waive him rather than keep 2 kickers on a team that was bad enough to go 3-13. His kickoffs were below par + he's been let go by 2 teams since then & was 1 more bad kick from getting cut by the Giants earlier this year. Get over it, I'd be more upset that we cut Shane Graham than Christie, but I have to admit when Graham was here he was nowhere near the kicker he became in Cincinnati.

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I can't remember if it was for money or performance. 

Anyways he is 5 for 5 in field goals today,.

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he was hurt,we put him on ijured reserve,thus he couldnt resign with us if he wanted too,or something like that if i remember

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I generally agree with those who point out the fact that Christie was getting older, that he had come here with a significant contract because we paid a bit for him to attract him from away from Tampa Bay, that our team never got things together with using hm directionally on KOs because he no longer had the leg to kick it long with the KO moving backward, and that he could not be a sure ting to hit the long kick.

 

However, it is merely convenient menmory on our part not to see this as one of the areas which had been most problematic for TD in terms of his management decisions.

 

TD got a bit of grief from the local media and football gurus when he cut Christie as part of our purge of big contracts as dealing with the leavings of Butler forced us into contract hell.

 

Chrisite had become a true local and even still lives in the area (he is a Canadian citizen and owns a home in Niagara-On-the-Lake just across the river from the falls) despite having connections to FLA with his first NFL gig and working in a few towns since the Bills released him.

 

TD responded with the quote which has proved false that good kickers are a dime a dozen in the NFL. His kicking excursions with the Bills have included an ill-fated investment in Jake Ariens who was so not ready for the NFL that he ended up cut by a 3-13 team. We then went with Shayne Graham whom we judged not good enough and cut him though he now seems to be a regular NFL kicker for the Bengals.

 

TD signed Mike Hollis who proved to be good enough as a kicker to win a couple of games for us with long clutch kicks. but he and TD couldn't reach agreement on a deal (he wanted to be paid like a Vanderjagt and didn't command that in a maket where he was good but not great and he went elsewhere where he was hurt.

 

The Lindell adventure I think has to go down as unproven for the Bills at best and is probably reasonably described as a disappointment. Many of the things which are true about Christie's failings (long kick questions, big contract) are also true of Lindall.

 

TD was flat out wrong in his belief that good kickers are a dime a dozen. Lindell has performed well under April with directional kicks and he is younger than Christie, but the 5 for 5 performance by Christie is a simple indicator of how clutch he is and Lindell has never shown that. The Bills taking a flyer on an FA or draft choice kicker would be quite reasonable because Lindell simply needs to do better.

 

If I needed a kicker to win the game for me, the longer the kick was the more I would fear depending on Christie, but if a game ever came down to that I would take Christie as my man to attempt that kick over Lindell at almost every distance. I doubt Christie would make a 47+ yarder if we needed it, but i doubt Lindell would either. I'd have greated belieft in Christie 40-45 yards. Abou equal 46 and 47, and I know Christie would probably not kick far enough at 47 or better, but i fear Lindell would simply miss.

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