The Redskins Blog

Suisham Tendered, Kicker Battle Looms

The Redskins tendered a contract to Shaun Suisham today, meaning that the team can now match any offer to he might receive as a free agent.

From a practical standpoint, this makes it fairly likely that Suisham will battle Dave Rayner for the kicker position in training camp. From a less practical standpoint, it maintains the Canadian presence in the international corner of the locker room, which is nice.

Suisham started off the season kicking as well as he ever had, but suffered a noticeable drop-off as the weeks progressed. As I look at the season stats now, there is a bit of a correlation between Suisham’s struggles and Ryan Plackemeier taking over the holding duties. Plackemeier’s gone now, so that possible excuse is eliminated — maybe that means Suisham goes back to his strong starting form; maybe it’s a false correlation (and it certainly doesn’t explain why his kickoffs got worse).

Either way, the Kicker Battle will tell all. My goodness — this plus the long-snapper duel certainly promises another NON-STOP THRILL RIDE when training camp rolls around.