Getty Former New York Jets kicker Eddy Pineiro celebrating after a successful make during an NFL game.
We have finally declared a winner in the Game of Thrones.
Adam Schefter of ESPN shared on Twitter that the New York Jets are releasing placekicker Eddy Pineiro on Tuesday, August 23.
Jets are releasing veteran kicker Eddy Pineiro, per source. Greg Zeurlein now is the lone Jets’ kicker on their roster.
That means by virtue, veteran Greg Zuerlein has won the kicking competition for the Jets heading into 2022 as the only kicker left on the roster.
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It Is All Over
The 26-year-old originally joined the Jets back on December 6 of 2021.
Gang Green had gone through a slew of kickers in a wild game of musical chairs before stumbling into Pineiro.
In five games of limited action for the Jets, Pineiro was perfect from the field converting eight of eight kicks. He also had a 90 percent conversion rate on his extra point attempts.
However, the big criticism of him heading into 2022 and why the Jets added serious competition to the room was his limited sample size.
Prior to joining the Jets for a portion of 2021, Pineiro had missed the entire 2020 campaign due to injury. Before that, he only had one season of professional experience with the Chicago Bears in 2019.
The Jets kicking competition was supposed to be decided in the preseason, but there just wasn’t a ton of action to evaluate through two games.
Both kickers got one attempt up apiece and converted:
- Pineiro went 1-for-1 from 26 yards out
- Zuerlein went 1-for-1 from 44 yards out
However, it seems like the coaching staff leaned on their performances during training camp and gave the edge towards the vast experience of Zuerlein.
Proven Experience
With Pineiro out of the picture, it is time for Greg “The Leg” more affectionately known as “Legatron” to take the reins.
The 34-year-old brings a wealth of experience to the table and a proven pedigree of success.
In his 10 years in the NFL Zuerlein has made over 264 field goals, earned a Pro Bowl nomination, and a first-team All-Pro nod to boot.
The only problem with him recently has been a troublesome back injury. That clearly affected him over the last few years, but special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has said throughout training camp that he hasn’t seen any issues in that department.
When healthy Zuerlein has proven to be an absolute stud and that is what the Jets are hoping for.
Over the last seven years specifically, the green and white have been mired in a crazy state of flux when it comes to their kicking situation.
Here is a crazy stat: with Zuerlein winning the kicking job he will now become the seventh different opening day kicker in the last seven years for the Jets organization.
Here is a stat: w/ veteran Greg Zuerlein winning the #Jets kicking gig he will now become the 7th different opening day kicker in the last 7 years for Gang Green, per @rlangejets.
7th time is the charm? lol #TakeFlight #JetsCamp
The Jets will be praying that Zuerlein is the one kicker to end them all. He has the best chance to bring stability to the position that we haven’t seen since Jason Myers had a Pro Bowl campaign back in 2018.
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Jets End Competition, Cut Bait on 26-Year-Old: Report