The Seahawks on Thursday signed veteran place kicker Blair Walsh, a move that likely signals the end of the line in Seattle for Steven Hauschka, who has been with the team since 2011 but is now an unrestricted free agent.
Walsh, 27, kicked for the Vikings from 2012 until last November when he was released in the wake of a few critical misses, including pulling a 27-yarder wide left with 22 seconds remaining in a wild-card playoff game against the Seahawks in Minnesota following the 2015 season. That miss allowed Seattle to survive, 10-9.
Walsh followed that up with a few more misses in 2016 and was released by the Vikings after missing an extra point and having a 46-yard field goal blocked in an overtime loss to Detroit and then misfiring on another PAT against Washington. Walsh was 15-19 on PATs and 12-16 on field goals when he was released after nine games, with the missed PATs standing as the most in the NFL at that time.
Walsh had not signed with any other team since, leaving him available for Seattle to scoop up Thursday in what is the first significant personnel move of the offseason for the Seahawks.
Prior to the 2016 season, however, Walsh had been regarded as one of the better kickers in the NFL, named a first team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2012 when he made 10-10 kicks from 50 yards or longer, an NFL single-season record.
Hauschka set numerous team records for the Seahawks after winning the job prior to the 2011 season, including most field goals in a career with 175.
But Hauschka had some uncommon struggles in 2016 missing more PATs than any other kicker _ six _ going 29-35, including one that could have put Seattle ahead in a late-season loss to Arizona. Hauschka also missed a 28-yard kick late in overtime of an October game at Arizona, a contest that ended in a 6-6 tie. Changing either result would have meant Seattle would have had the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and a home game in the divisional round instead of finishing with the No. 3 seed and having to play in the divisional round at Atlanta, where Seattle's season ended in a 36-20 loss.
Hauschka this season completed a three-year contract worth $8.5 million _ making him the 11th-highest paid kicker in the NFL this year _ which he had signed in the wake of the Super Bowl-winning year of 2013.
His 2016 salary of $2.7 million (and a salary cap charge of $3.5 million) was the highest of the 14 Seattle players who will officially become unrestricted free agents on March 9.
That salary combined with Hauschka's uncommon struggles and a potential desire to get younger and cheaper at that position had led much speculation that the Seahawks could look for another kicker in 2017 _ speculation that coach Pete Carroll didn't really quell when asked about Hauschka in his end-of-season news conference two days after the loss to Atlanta.
"Unfortunately he had gotten a little stink with kicking the extra points," Carroll said. "I was really excited that he finished the season on a good note and he hit everything that he had a chance to hit, because he knew he was up against it, he knew he needed to show that. I wish it would have happened a few weeks earlier, just so he could have had more weeks to bank on that."
Walsh, who attended Georgia, made $1.15 million last season as part of a four-year, $13 million contract he signed in the summer of 2015.
It's not known yet the details of Walsh's deal with the Seahawks but it likely is for substantially less than Hauschka made last season. Seattle could also look to sign an undrafted rookie free agent or other inexpensive option as competition in training camp.
Hauschka, who will turn 32 on June 29, played in 17 games for Baltimore in 2008-09 and then four with Denver in 2010 before finally solidifying an NFL job with the Seahawks, succeeding Olindo Mare, who departed via free agency following the 2010 season.
Hauschka earned the nickname "Hausch Money" for his clutch kicking during his time with Seattle, notably in 2013 when he had two game-winning field goals in overtime en route to making 22 straight _ second all-time in Seattle history behind only Mare's 30 in a row in 2009-10.
He also tied a team record with a 58-yard field goal at Carolina in 2014 and ended last season having kicked at least one field goal in 19 straight games, another team record. Hauschka has made 191-219 field goals in his career, a percentage of 87.2 that is third-best in NFL history.
His overall numbers in 2016 were mostly on par with his career stats as he made 33 _ which tied a career high _ in 37 attempts. He also became Seattle's all-time postseason scoring leader when he hit two field goals in wild-card playoff win over Detroit. However, Hauschka also had a missed PAT against the Lions capping a season when he had uncommon struggles in what was the second season the point after touchdown kick was snapped from the 15-yard line (making it essentially a 33-yard kick).
Hauschka offered few excuses for the misses, saying simply after the Dec. 24 loss to Arizona when he had a 27-yard field goal attempt blocked and a missed PAT that each proved critical in a 34-31 loss that "I've just got to do better."
