Bengals tag kicker Graham
February 16
Bengals Official Site
"The Bengals' first major move of the offseason Monday all but guaranteed kicker Shayne Graham's services for the 2009 season and wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh's entry into free agency.
The club announced in a news release that Graham has been named the team's franchise player, under terms of the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement:
The franchise tag gives Graham the option to sign with the Bengals for 2009 for a salary equal to the average of the five highest-paid kickers in the NFL for the previous season (2008 in this case).
Graham is a ninth-year NFL player in 2009. He has played the last six years for Cincinnati after signing as a free agent just before the 2003 season opener. He ranks fourth all-time in the NFL in career field goal accuracy (85.6 percent), and his career accuracy with the Bengals is 87.5 percent -- a franchise record by more than 10 points over second-place Doug Pelfrey (77.3).
Graham holds numerous other Bengals career, season and game records. The list includes points in a season (131), FGs in a season (31), FGs in a game (seven), consecutive FGs made (21), season FG percentage (91.2) and consecutive PATs made (158). Graham also handles kickoffs, and in 2008 he passed Pelfrey into second-place in all-time Bengals scoring (682), behind only 13-year Bengal Jim Breech (1151 points from 1980-92).
Graham is also a Bengals leader in service to the community. His Kicks for Kids program provides a wide range of assistance for at-risk children in Greater Cincinnati, and he has been a board member of the Cincinnati FreestoreFoodbank. In 2008, he helped organize the nation's most successful Taste of the NFL event, raising more than $170,000 for meals for the hungry.
"Shayne has consistently performed at a high level for us, and we expect that same performance in 2009 and hopefully beyond," said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. "We'll continue to speak with Shayne and his representatives about signing a longer-term deal."
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