For Pete's Sake

Adam Vinatieri may lose $500,000 because of Colts’ snow game in Buffalo

The epic Colts-Bills game played in snowstorm made for some wonderful photos and videos.

It did not, however, make life easy on the kickers. Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri missed from 33 yards (wide right) and from 43 yards (wide left) during the game in Orchard Park, N.Y.

At one point, reporters in the pressbox laughed at a field-goal attempt that had no chance:

Vinatieri did make a clutch extra-point attempt that sent the game to overtime, but the Bills ended up winning 13-7. Those two misses for Vinatieri could hurt his bank account.

This is what salary-cap expert Joel Corry tweeted: “Kicking in a blizzard could cost Adam Vinatieri a $500,000 incentive. He needs to hit at least 90% of his field goals this season to get it. He was at 95.7% before the Buffalo game. He’s now at 88%.”

Vinatieri had made all but one of his 23 attempts entering the game and is now 22 for 25. With three games to play this season, Vinatieri could get back to 90 percent if he makes five kicks without a miss.

Should he miss that bonus, Vinatieri should be fine financially. He’s made more than $43 million in his career, according to Spotrac.com.

Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 8:15 AM.

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