Olindo Mare Offered a Contract

I've made no attempt to hide my disdain for Olindo Mare. Apparently Broncos Management feels otherwise. Mare was offered a contract for an undisclosed amount after his visit yesterday. Despite a concerted effort to get his signature before departing, Mare boarded a plane to Seattle without a signed contract. The Seahawks are without a kicker since losing Josh Brown to free agency.

It looks like once again the Broncos and Seahawks will enter a bidding war for a free agent. This time the winner of this fiasco may be the one who gets outbid. Mare was horribly inaccurate last season before sustaining a season ending injury. He was cut by the Saints.

35-year-old Mare's track record suggests he's a very average kicker, hitting about 90% from inside the 40 for his career. From 50+ mare has connected on an abysmal 15 of 35 attempts (one of which was a gut-wrenching game winner at Invesco in 2002). His best attribute is his ability to kickoff; he finished 3rd in touchback percentage last season behind Sebastian Janikowski and Broncos incumbent Matt Prater.

Given that Prater is 23 and already on our roster, why sign Mare? This might indicate that the Broncos aren't confident in Prater's ability to handle the job. Once we know the terms of his offer, it may surface that they are merely trying to make Prater compete for the job or providing him with a veteran mentor. One things for sure: if the cost of obtaining Mare's services is anywhere near the price we balked at for Elam, Broncos fans will be extremely displeased.

UPDATE: Thankfully, Mare was signed by Seattle to the tune of 2 years, $3.5 million. That's not a whole lot less than Denver offered Elam, so imagine the mutiny if they had bid against Seattle. I don't know what the solution is at kicker in Denver, but one things for sure: Mare wasn't it. It looks like we're going to see if Prater's leg is for real.