The Buffalo Bills are expected to sign veteran kicker Steven Hauschka at some point Thursday barring any “snags in final negotiations", per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The veteran kicker spent the past six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
In 2016, Hauschka made 33 of his 37 field goal attempts (89.2%), which was the fifth-highest percentage in the NFL. He missed two kicks in the 20-29 yard range and two in the 40-49 yard range but was perfect elsewhere. Seattle only had him attempt one field goal over 50 yards, which he made. He struggled on extra points, missing six of his 35 attempts. His percentage of 82.9% was the second-lowest in football.
After making 83.8% of his field goals in 2014, good for 17th in the league, Hauschka connected on 93.5% of his kicks in 2015, the third-highest figure in the NFL that year.
Also of note: Hauschka can handle kickoffs. He recorded a 62.8% touchback rate on 86 kickoffs in 2016, around the league average but well ahead of Dan Carpenter’s 40.6% rate on 69 tries last year.
Carpenter made 76.0% of his field-goal attempts, the third-lowest rate in 2016 and made 88.9% of his extra points, the sixth-lowest percentage in that category. He was released on Monday.
The Bills are hoping their new kicker will rebound from his down year in the extra point department. Hauschka is a veteran kicker with plenty of experience kicking in inclement weather and the playoffs.