NFL Player News

Falcons kicker Matt Bryant was perfect on all four of his field goal attempts in Monday's 26-24 win over the Eagles.

His longest came from 47 yards and he also connected from 41, 39 and 44 yards. Bryant also converted both of his extra points.

Broncos placekicker Brandon McManus was perfect Sunday in a season-opening win over Baltimore.

McManus connected on all four of his field goal attempts, including bombs from 57 and 56 yards in the first quarter. He also hit from 43 yards in the second quarter and 33 yards in the fourth.

He can try for another big game in just four days as his team plays Kansas City on Thursday night.

Placekicker Zach Hocker certainly made the Saints look smart Sunday when they named him their starter.

Hocker successfully booted all four field goal attempts in the loss to Arizona. He hit from 37, 23, 43 and 33 yards out. The last two came in the fourth quarter.

He will try to keep up the good work when New Orleans plays Tampa Bay in Week 2.

The Jets restructured the contract of kicker Nick Folk on Saturday, according to ESPN.com.

The move created more cap room for New York, after it converted $1.78 million of Folk's $2.5 million base salary into a signing bonus.

Folk made 32 of 39 field goals for the Jets last season.

Rookie kicker Andrew Franks has won the kicking competition for the Dolphins, reports the Palm Beach Post. Franks beat out Caleb Sturgis, who was released.

The Steelers made a slew of roster moves Monday, including placing offensive tackle Mike Adams on the PUP list to begin the season.

Pittsburgh also placed cornerback Senquez Golson and kicker Garrett Hartley on injured reserve, which means both players will miss the 2015 season.

Tight end Cameron Clear, defensive end Niko Davis and tight end Ray Hamilton were all waived/injured.

The Steelers also released G Miles Dieffenbach, WR Kenzel Doe, WR C.J. Goodwin, RB Braylon Heard, DE Joe Kruger, DT Joe Okafor, OL Collin Rahrig, CB Jordan Sullen, OT Kevin Whimpey and S Ian Wild.

The Buccaneers have signed kicker Connor Barth to a two-year deal in an attempt to shore up their special teams, per the Tampa Tribune. 

Barth, who was released earlier Wednesday by the Broncos, will compete with Pat Murray for the starting job. Barth played for the Bucs from 2009-13, although he missed the 2013 season entirely after tearing his Achilles in a charity basketball game. 

The Broncos released kicker Connor Barth on Wednesday. Barth's departure solidifies Brandon McManus as the starting placekicker for the Broncos.

Barth supplanted McManus as the kicker on field goals and extra points after 10 games in 2014. Barth hit 15 of 16 field goals down the stretch, but McManus was added back to the roster after Barth struggled on kickoffs in his first game. 

Although, special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis studied what plagued McManus as a rookie and feels his struggles were easily explained.

"He's just like any other player -- young," DeCamillis said Aug. 18, per the team's official website. "Unfortunately, you look at kickers and they should make everything, right, whoever they are. If they haven't done it a bunch yet, they're going to have those hiccups. You have to be able to come back from it and hopefully he did."

McManus connected on 9 of 13 field goals last season. He was 41 for 41 on extra points.

The Vikings agreed to a contract extension with kicker Blair Walsh on Sunday, the team announced.

"I'm extremely excited to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings moving forward," Walsh said. "I'd like to thank Rick Spielman, the Wilf family, Coach Zimmer, Coach Priefer and Rob Brzezinski for giving me this opportunity. I'm proud to be able to stay with the team that drafted me coming out of college and I look forward to what is in store for the future of this organization."

Dolphins kicker Caleb Sturgis was not at OTAs on Monday, with reports that he is suffering from a quadriceps injury to his plant leg, per FoxSports.com.

According to the report, the severity of the injury is being evaluated. Sturgis was 29-of-37 on field goals last season, and just 9-of-16 from beyond 40 yards.