After Bengals kicker Mike Nugent landed on injured reserve, the team signed Aaron Pettrey, whose regular-season NFL experience consisted of zero games.
It appeared at the time that they were merely filling the roster spot to conceal their interest in recently-fired Steelers kicker Jeff Reed. But when Reed opted not to join the Bengals, they stuck with Pettrey.
And Pettrey did his best Jeff Reed impression on Thanksgiving night, shanking a chip-shot that would have tied the game at 10 in the second half against the Jets.
Now, the Bengals have given Pettrey the boot, but they’ve replaced him with another inexperienced kicker. Specifically, they’ve added rookie Clint Stitser. Cut both by the Jets in June and the Seahawks in August, Stitser has been out of the league, and he hasn’t played in a single regular-season game.
The only good news? Since he’s a rookie, he could be paid a lot less than an experienced kicker.
