On Friday, the Browns lost kicker Patrick Murray to a knee injury suffered in practice. On Sunday, the Browns lost in overtime after replacement kicker Cody Parkey missed three field goals, one of which would have won the game as time expired in the fourth quarter.
That raised questions about why the Browns chose Parkey over Robbie Gould, a free agent who has a good track record of kicking well for the Bears. And according to the Miami Herald, Gould is the kicker that Browns special teams coach Chris Tabor wanted to sign -- except that the front office nixed the plan, saying Gould would cost more than Parkey. Gould has played 11 NFL seasons and Parkey is in his third, which means the minimum salary to sign Gould would be about half a million dollars more than the Browns are paying Parkey.
Cap space isn’t really an issue for the Browns right now, as they lead the league with $48 million available. Still, the Browns have made no secret that their front office will take a Moneyball approach, and they may see kickers as largely interchangeable and not worth a lot of money. (The Browns also made a move at punter that saved money a few weeks ago, trading away Andy Lee and signing the less expensive Britton Colquitt.)
However, the Browns are pushing back against that report, with a team source insisting to the Akron Beacon Journal that money isn’t the reason they signed Parkey over Gould.
“Money played no role in the decision,” the Browns source said. “It’s ridiculous to think that it would.”
Whatever the reasons that Parkey is the Browns’ kicker, the fact is that he missed field goals of 42, 46 and 41 yards on Sunday. Gould’s track record suggests he probably would have made at least one of those field goals, and if any one of them had been good, the Browns would have won in regulation instead of losing in overtime.
