Packers re-sign Mason Crosby to three year contract extension

In 2019, the Green Bay Packers got a career year out of 35-year-old kicker Mason Crosby. Last season was his 13th in the NFL after the team drafted him in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft, and he went 22-for-24 on field goals. That made 2019 the first season of his career when he connected successfully on over 90 percent of his field goals, finishing at 91.7%.

Now, the Packers have rewarded Crosby with a new contract. On Saturday afternoon, Crosby's agent Mike McCartney revealed that his client and the Packers have agreed to a three-year contract extension. The deal locks Crosby up through the 2022 campaign and keeps him from becoming an unrestricted free agent in March.

Crosby signed his previous contract in March of 2016, a four-year, $16.1 million deal that he similarly agreed to before the opening of free agency. Playing in the final year of that deal in 2019, Crosby held the second-highest cap hit of any kicker in the NFL, with his number of $4.85 million coming in behind only the Bills’ Stephen Hauschka. In the 2018 season, his $5.25 million was the highest of any player at his position.

Financial terms of the deal have not yet been reported, but another contract around the $4 million range per year seems realistic. While Crosby is hardly the most accurate kicker in the league, he has dealt well with difficult weather conditions in Green Bay over the years. He also improved his touchback rate on kickoffs in 2019, as he booted the ball into or through the end zone on 62 percent of attempts. That is a significant increase from his career rate of 44.7% since 2011, when kickoffs were moved up to the 35-yard line.

This takes one significant question mark off the board for the Packers, who can focus their scouting efforts away from specialists in 2020.

UPDATE: NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that the contract will be worth $12.9 million total over the threw years of the deal, an average of $4.3 million per year.