New England Patriots Make Gostkowski the Highest Paid Kicker in NFL History

By Cheri Cheng - 16 Jul '15 09:25AM

The New England Patriots and Stephen Gostkowski have agreed to a four-year, $17.2 million deal, league sources reported.

The contract, which replaced Gostkowski's one-year, $4.59 million tender, is the largest for a kicker in the history of the NFL. The Patriots' franchise player will be making an average of more than $4 million per year.

Gostkowski, 31, led the league in scoring four times out of his nine seasons as a pro (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014). In the past two seasons, the three-time Pro Bowler led the NFL in field goals made. In 2014, he went 35-for-37 (94.6%) and hit all of the 51 extra points that he attempted. During that season, he scored a total of 156 points.

In over 136 games, Gostkowski went 243-for-280. His field goal percentage (86.8%) is third among active kickers. Gostkowski is currently ninth on the active scoring list (1,179 points), according to Pro-Football-Referece.com.

He was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft and replaced the Adam Vinatieri.

The deadline to sign a tagged player was Wednesday, July 15 at 4 p.m. ET. The Patriots had put the franchise tag on Gostkowski back in March.