Arkansas Bengal Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 Greg Wilson Sun, Feb 25, 2024, 1:02 PM CST·1 min read After 14 seasons of Kevin Huber keeping the punting game mostly consistent for the Cincinnati Bengals, there were some struggles at the position with Drue Chrisman and 2023 rookie Brad Robbins getting a chance. The Bengals drafted Robbins with their sixth-round pick in last year’s draft, but he didn’t perform like they hoped he would for the most part. Now after the Kansas City Chiefs signed Matt Araiza, it seems as if they won’t be re-signing their punter Tommy Townsend. Over the past four seasons, Townsend has been one of the better punters in the league for the Chiefs and has proven he belongs on an NFL roster, earning first-team All-Pro in 2022 and a Pro Bowl appearance. Throughout his career, he has averaged 47.4 yards per punt and has had 80 punts inside the 20-yard line, doing so 40.8 percent of the time. He had 20 punts inside the 20 last season, which was the same number as Robbins, but Robbins punted 17 more times than Townsend did. Robbins has only had one year in the NFL, so he could turn into the player the Bengals hoped he would be with time, but with Townsend about to hit free agency, they should consider signing him to compete with Robbins next season. https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-consider-signing-tommy-townsend-190250422.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 They should do more than consider signing Townsend, they should make him a priority if they are serious about chasing championships. Poor punting hurt them in both of their deep playoff runs. KC just won a Super Bowl with a spectacular special teams performance. Townsend was also a great holder for Butker, held for McPherson at Florida one season. How could Townsend not be a free agent target? He has everything Simmons is looking for in a punter. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claptonrocks Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 12 minutes ago, dex said: They should do more than consider signing Townsend, they should make him a priority if they are serious about chasing championships. Poor punting hurt them in both of their deep playoff runs. KC just won a Super Bowl with a spectacular special teams performance. Townsend was also a great holder for Butker, held for McPherson at Florida one season. How could Townsend not be a free agent target? He has everything Simmons is looking for in a punter. Great punter of need here. His new agent is Drew Rosenhaus who's a hardball agent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicoli Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 24 minutes ago, claptonrocks said: His new agent is Drew Rosenhaus Ugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texbengal Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 They’ve actually done ok with Rosenhaus clients. Mulugheta, OTOH… not a lot of experience but the first one wasn’t good. They definitely need to turn up the heat on Robbins. Townsend would be great… whether they go that route, we will see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|BlackJesus| Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 In a league where the teams have lots of parity, the kicking and punting game often makes the difference. It's a small price to pay for a big edge. Of course, they should make him the highest paid punter if needed. Get it done, New Orleans is expecting us in February. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 Should we consider it? Absolutely. Likewise Araiza Will they? No. That would be admitting they screwed up. Look how long we have carried Carman. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky151 Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 Townsend was a college teammate of McPherson. But we don't need to pay up for a punter, just get average from one. Whether it's Robbins, Chrisman, or someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 36 minutes ago, sparky151 said: Townsend was a college teammate of McPherson. But we don't need to pay up for a punter, just get average from one. Whether it's Robbins, Chrisman, or someone else. If we would sign him maybe they could both stay on the field and watch the half time show at the Super Bowl this year. no Well... unless they bring back Up With People 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 6 hours ago, High School Harry said: Should we consider it? Absolutely. Likewise Araiza Will they? No. That would be admitting they screwed up. Look how long we have carried Carman. Which is kind of funny because they never fire anyone either. What's the concern? People miss on draft picks all the time anyway. Whiffing on a 6th round punter isn't a big deal unless they turn it into one. For some reason they have a tendency to do that & I think it's cultural. Remember when Ol' Musty was on HK & suggested moving a DE to TE or some nonsense hot take from the days of leather helmets? Everyone else in the room tried not to look at each other. That kind of Naked Emperor avoidance shit will permeate an entire organization & while I'd like to hope the younger generation are better than that, who is around to tell them they're wrong about anything? From the top down, people hold positions with the Bengals due to nepotism & patronage. Suck up to the right people and you can drunkenly threaten to kill cops on camera or shoot a kid on your lawn and you'll still get paid. You don't even have to be good at the sport that is ostensibly their only product. Said it before but this franchise sometimes operates like a charitable trust that is required to perform football games. Anyhow they should definitely go get Townsend but they probably won't & I know it sounds crazy but is their reason really because it would make Brad Robbins and Simmons sad? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky151 Posted February 27 Report Share Posted February 27 I don't think they should go after Townsend because he'll want $3 mil per year. He was named all-pro but his stats aren't that great. Punter is like running back in that adequate isn't hard to find or expensive. Much different from placekicker where they should give McPherson a nice extension. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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