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We don’t talk too much about kickers, but the numbers came in today on Dan Carpenter’s contract with the Cardinals and it would sure seem that the odds are stacked against Feely from returning to Arizona this year. From a performance standpoint Carpenter has had a better two year stretch than Feely in terms of FG accuracy in the 30-50 yard categories which are often the big kicks teams want to see go through the uprights

Carpenter had many more chances than Feely from 50 yards so I’m not sure how much that number really matters unless we break things down kick by kick, which I am not doing here. Looking further into the stats there was a decline in Feely’s play outside of Arizona while Carpenter actually fared better away from Miami. I know that there were reports that the Cardinals were concerned with kickoff depth but the two are actually relatively close in that regard, though Carpenter does have more bad weather type games playing in the AFC East compared to the NFC West, but I think its the road kicks that are a big deal to teams. Giving up points on the road is looked upon as a major negative. Here are the road statistics of the two players.

Carpenter has more or less been automatic inside 50, while Feely has been anything but.

While the Cardinals have enough cap room to get by- they are around $6.9 million which will put them around $5 million at the start of the season- they could look for savings and Carpenter clearly gives them savings. Feely will earn $1.5 million in salary for the season. Carpenter, if healthy for 16 games, only receives $830,000. At $670,000 in cash and slightly more in cap savings Carpenter not only looks to have a major performance edge but also a financial one. I’m not really sure what Arizona plans on seeing from Carpenter over the next 8 days that would make them release him rather than Feely.

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