FanHouse BillyCundiff

That ominous presence hanging over Olindo Mare's head might be a falling pink slip. His 10-for-17 season ended three games mercifully short last year, and the Saints brought in punchline Martin Gramatica to finish the season.

But Gramatica connected, going 5-for-5 in three games (and allegedly never missing a kick in practice), including a clutch 55-yarder that he had to kick while rushing onto the field with the first half winding down against Philadelphia. I, upon seeing that kick, stood up on my bar stool and screamed "Automatica!!!!" in delight, rendering the rest of the sports bar speechless.

His deal as an injury fill-in was only good for last year, but his performance earned him another one. Mare is still under contract as well, and his job isn't automatically (no pun intended) in jeopardy. In his time, Martin was terrible kicking off, something Mare excels at even when he can't split the uprights (despite the missed time, his 15 touchbacks were fourth in the league).

If Mare proves he can kick consistently in camp, he'll be the guy. If not, don't be surprised to see him limited to kickoffs while Gramatica handles the rest (the Saints used this approach with Billy Cundiff and John Carney in 2006, though at the consternation of Sean Payton). A leg in the draft is also possible. Still, just getting excited over a Gramatica again is fun, isn't it?

Hey everyone! Olindo Mare's 3-of-7 start? His two missed field goals Sunday against Carolina? All water under the bridge, because Mare is taking full responsibility!

"There are no excuses," Mare said. "I was brought here to make field goals, and I did half of that (on Sunday). Obviously, I'm disappointed. I felt I could make the 20-yarder (blocked by Julius Peppers). Until I see it (on film), I don't know. But if I hit it low, then I don't have any excuses. It's obviously my fault."

Whew, well that's a relief. I was still deciding whether to place the blame for those botched kicks on Mare of Drew Brees. Glad the decision has been made for me. Unfortunately, Mare's terrible kicking has been a large part of the team's 0-4 start. So unless he's got a time machine that I don't know about, accepting all the blame in the world won't do any good.

But bringing in a new kicker would at least stop the bleeding. The team has scheduled tryouts with a few, including, as predicted, Mike Vanderjagt. Others include Billy Cundiff, maybe Martin Gramatica and Josh Huston, and a host of other unnamed kickers. Not the most inspiring crew of names, but I'm not sure it can get any worse than Mare circa 2007. But, hey, accountability!

After another poor performance on Sunday night in which he missed a 32-yard field goal and an extra point, Lawrence Tynes may be on his way out of New York. According to Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger, the Giants have both Josh Huston and Billy Cundiff in for workouts today.

Huston, who was with the Giants during training camp, was one of the teams' final cuts. He battled Tynes until the very end, and many fans felt he had actually won the job. Instead, head coach Tom Coughlin opted to go with the veteran in what he claimed was a "very close" competition.

Meanwhile, Cundiff has bounced around from team to team after leaving Dallas following the 2005 season. He played with the Saints last year, primarily as a kickoff specialist, before finding himself with the Falcons this offseason. His stay in Atlanta didn't last very long, as the team cut him in favor of Matt Prater, who has since been released.

I don't really think any of these kickers are long term options, but they also can't be worse than Tynes. If you're a Giants fan, you can not possibly feel comfortable with him coming in to kick an extra point, let alone a potential game-winning field goal. Change is necessary.

To get you ready for the season, FanHouse is previewing all 32 NFL teams. Here's New Orleans' outlook.

2006 record: 10-6

2006 Offense: The #1 offense in the league. Drew Brees. Reggie Bush. Deuce McAllister. Marques Colston. Devery Henderson. All led by Sean Payton, who has proved to be one of the most innovative offensive coaches in the NFL after but one year. Yeah, it was pretty good.

2006 Defense: The Saints ran an unusual defense last year -- the break but don't bend variety (yes, you read that correctly). Their job primarily was just to get the ball back to the offense, either by forcing an early three-and-out or by quickly giving up the big score. And they succeeded one way or the other. They still finished with the 11th overall defense, but causing turnovers was a major problem.

2006 Special Teams: Between Lance Moore, Michael Lewis, and Bush, the team did well enough returning the ball. Kickoffs were a problem though, so much so that the team had to waste a roster spot on Billy Cundiff, a kickoff specialist who still couldn't boom touchbacks into the endzone. John Carney retained his accuracy, but lost even more distance on his field goals. From the blocked punt that sparked the Superdome reopening, to Bush's first NFL touchdown (a game-winning punt return against Tampa), this unit produced some of the most memorable plays of the season.

The Atlanta Falcons ended their preseason on a high note yesterday, defeating the Baltimore Ravens 13-10. Most of the starters sat out in attempt to avoid unnecessary injury, but that did not take away from the intensity of the game. The reserves hit the field knowing this was their final shot to make an impression; their final shot at winning a job in the NFL.

Although his position was already secure, back-up quarterback Chris Redman went out and played a very good first half. And while he did tail off toward the end of his stint, he ended the night going 13 of 23 for 119 yards and a touchdown. Redman was then replaced by Casey Bramlet who went four of seven for 68 yards -- his statistics look better in the box score than he did on the field. Bramlet holds onto the ball entirely too long and doesn't appear to have very good arm strength.

Wide receiver Vincent Marshall made quite an impression last night with a very beautiful bobbling catch. Unfortunately, he probably won't make the final roster, but could be a very solid practice squad/emergency player.

It also appeared that the kicking battle went down to the wire. Will it be Billy Cundiff or Matt Prater? My money is still on Cundiff, but Prater looked good on both kickoffs and field goals last night (outside of the 44-yard miss).

The Atlanta Falcons may have found their replacement to the kicker by committee they used last season. According to ProStar Sports Online, they have agreed to a deal with free agent Billy Cundiff.

Cundiff, who also visited the New York Giants this week, does not really seem like an ideal candidate to start. While the options are clearly limited, the Falcons settled for less with Cundiff.

Over the course of his career, he has made only 72.3% of his field goals. By comparison, the tandem of Morten Anderson and Michael Koenen made 79.3% of their fields goals last season.

No contract details have been announced.

General Manager Jerry Reese and the New York Giants have done a good job addressing most of their holes this offseason. They've worked on the linebackers, added to the cornerbacks, found another wide receiver and traded for a running back. However, a few areas still need a little attention and one of them did get some yesterday.

According to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, the Giants brought veteran kicker Billy Cundiff in for a visit yesterday.

Billy Cundiff... Wow. How in the world did it get to this point for the Giants? By no means was Jay Feely a top-notch kicker, but he's certainly more trustworthy than Billy Cundiff or the Giants current option, rookie Josh Huston.

Cundiff spent last year with the New Orleans Saints and made only one field goal attempt (0-1). Prior to that he spent four years with the Cowboys where he made 73.2% of his field goals.

Comparison: Jay Feely has made 79.6% of his field goals.