Gabe Brkic – Syndication Server

Vikings ranked 16th in the NFL in spending when signing undrafted free agents

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero released a report on Saturday that showed a breakdown of spending by NFL teams for UDFA signings

Every year after the draft, NFL teams can bid for undrafted free agents in a recruitment process that mirrors regular free agency. Generally, teams who assert themselves and offer more guaranteed money have a higher likelihood of signing these players.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero released a report on Saturday. The report indicated that the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) provided agents with a team-by-team spending breakdown of last year’s undrafted free agent class.

The Minnesota Vikings were able to sign nine undrafted free agents last year, spending a total of $609,705. This ranks them 16th in the league in terms of total money spent on these players. Below are the names of the nine undrafted free agents who signed with the Vikings last season.

S Mike Brown
WR Thomas Hennigan
RB Bryant Koback
OLB Zach McCloud
C Josh Sokol
DT Tyarise Stevenson
OLD Luiji Vilain
P Ryan Wright
K Gabe Brkic

Keep in mind that this is just signing bonus money given to undrafted free agents. Teams will offer upwards of $250k to players to get them to sign with their team. If the player gets cut, which happens often, the signing bonus gets accelerated to next year’s salary cap.

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Oklahoma Sooners at West Virginia: All-Time Series History

What does the history look like between the Oklahoma Sooners and the West Virginia Mountaineers? From @john9williams

Last year’s contest marked the ninth-straight win for the Oklahoma Sooners over the West Virginia Mountaineers. Unlike the previous six, the Sooners struggled to score, needing a last-second field goal from [autotag]Gabe Brkic[/autotag] to seal the deal.

The win a year ago also marked the last significant workload for 2022 bell cow running back [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag].

Against a tough Mountaineers defensive front that featured [autotag]Dante Stills[/autotag] and [autotag]Akheem Mesidor[/autotag] (now with Miami), Gray and the Sooners offensive line struggled to get the running game going. He carried the ball 12 times for 38 yards. Though it was a rough day on the ground, Gray found a way to make an impact through the air on the first drive of the game.

With the Sooners facing a 4th and 4, [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] threw a swing pass out to Gray who worked his way down the left sideline for a 38-yard gain to set the Sooners up with a first and goal at the eight-yard line. Three plays later, [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] found [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] for a five-yard touchdown to make it a 7-7 game.

After both teams scored on their opening drive, a slugfest ensued and Oklahoma came out on top after Rattler orchestrated a game-winning drive to set up Brkic’s field goal as time expired.

This year should be a return to the high-scoring matchups that we’ve seen in the years prior as both defenses give up around 30 points per game.

Let’s take a look at the all-time series stats from Winsipedia.

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Packers release former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic

Green Bay Packers release former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic.

Although he was solid in training camp, the Green Bay Packers released former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic after their first preseason game.

Brkic went 3-3 on extra points but missed wide left on his lone field goal attempt. According to Packer head coach Matt LaFleur, Brkic tweaked his hamstring during warmups.

To replace Brkic, the Packers signed former Nevada and Pittsburgh Maulers kicker Raziz Ahmed.

Brkic is a free agent once again.

The Packers releasing Brkic after one game seems a strong reaction to one missed field goal, but if Brkic really is hurt, he can’t kick, now can he?

With how talented a kicker Brkic is, one NFL team is bound to kick the tires whenever he is deemed healthy. Perhaps Brkic would’ve benefited by staying one more year at OU.

Getting and keeping a kicking job in the NFL is hard work. There are only 32 NFL jobs for placekickers, and how many fan bases can truly say “we have a good kicker”?

Before landing in Green Bay, Brkic was signed by the Minnesota Vikings where he lost a kicking competition to incumbent starter Greg Joseph.

On social media, Brkic still has a picture of himself in his Sooners uniform as his profile picture.

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Packers sign K Ramiz Ahmed, release K Gabe Brkic

Due to an injury, the Packers had to swap kickers on the 90-man roster. Gabe Brkic was released, while Ramiz Ahmed was signed.

An injury and inconsistency forced the Green Bay Packers to make a change at kicker after Friday night’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Packers released rookie kicker Gabe Brkic and signed kicker Ramiz Ahmed on Sunday.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Brkic “tweaked” his hamstring during pre-game warmups in San Francisco on Friday night. Although Brkic made all three extra points, he was limited on kickoffs and later shanked a field goal attempt wide left.

With Mason Crosby still on the PUP list with a knee injury, the Packers had to make a move for a second kicker, so Ahmed was picked from the free-agent list to replace Brkic on the 90-man roster.

Ahmed was an undrafted free agent out of Nevada in 2020 who spent some time with the Chicago Bears as a rookie. Earlier this year, Ahmed made 14 of 22 field goals (63.6 percent) as a member of the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL. At Nevada, Ahmed made 15 of 20 field goals.

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Former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic off to great start in Green Bay

With preseason games the horizon, former Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic has hit the ground running with the Green Bay Packers.

I found myself in beautiful Green Bay, Wisconsin, for Packers training camp on Tuesday morning. I had but one mission: to see how former Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic was doing in his new surroundings.

I barely noticed a difference besides the new colors he was wearing. Brkic is off to a very good start in Green Bay, with none of the consistency issues that he had earlier this year in Minnesota. I didn’t see Brkic miss a single kick while I was at Ray Nitschke Field.

He also had a very solid day on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.

Gabe Brkic 3/3 on FGs from 45, 47 and 49 just now. Last year’s Lou Groza Award finalist from Oklahoma continuing to get work with Mason Crosby (knee) sidelined.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 1, 2022

There’s another interesting nugget in this situation: Packers legend Mason Crosby had surgery on his right knee–his kicking knee–during the offseason and isn’t practicing. Brkic has had all the kicking reps to himself.

Crosby will be 38 in September and is currently on the physically unable to perform list.

Here’s what our friends at Packers Wire had to say on the situation:

The injury is a concerning issue for an aging kicker – especially a right-legged kicker – coming off one of the worst seasons of his professional career. In 2021, Crosby missed nine field goals and finished with a field goal percentage of just 73.5, the second worst of his career.

Crosby is also going into the final year of his deal in 2022. He’ll make a base salary of $2.25 million, with a cap hit of $4.75 million. The Packers could save almost $2.4 million by moving on but would risk entering the 2022 season without an established kicker. – Zach Kruse, Packers Wire

The Packers had the worst special teams unit in the NFL last year and brought in former Raiders head coach Rich Bisaccia to clean it up. Crosby was a big part of that.

Green Bay will no doubt do right by their best kicker in team history, but if Brkic continues to impress during training camp and has a good preseason, Crosby could be out of a job.

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Packers claim recently waived Vikings kicking prospect

The Packers successfully claim a former Viking.

The Green Bay Packers wasted no time putting in a claim for recently waived Minnesota Vikings kicking prospect Gabe Brkic.

It hasn’t even been a week since the former Oklahoma Sooner got the bad news from the Vikings.

There was hope that he would come in and potentially push kicker Greg Joseph for the starting job, but the veteran responded well to the challenge, while Brkic struggled in the spring practices. But it was obviously clear that he wasn’t a player anyone should have been closing the book on yet, either.

He routinely made tough kicks during his time at Oklahoma and was ranked No. 1 in most 50-plus yard kicks in the country.

#Packers claim K Gabe Brkic

Roster moves 📰 https://t.co/VZZH5aMVS1

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 14, 2022

The Packers still have longtime kicker Mason Crosby on their roster, but given his struggles in 2021, Brkic is going to have a real opportunity to stick around on the team.

If he can shake the nerves and get back to the same kicker blasting home runs through the uprights in college, then perhaps there will be a surprise in store this summer.

Maybe, just maybe, Brkic could land the starting job.

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Former Sooners Kicker Gabe Brkic claimed by Green Bay Packers

Gabe Brkic is back in the saddle after being claimed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers

It didn’t take very long for former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic to find a new NFL team as the Green Bay Packers claimed him off of waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.

After losing a kicking competition to Greg Joseph, Brkic now finds himself going up against Packers legend Mason Crosby. In a corresponding move, the Packers waived former Las Vegas Raiders kicker Dominik Eberle, whom they signed back in February.

First of all, I called it.

Second of all, much change was expected for the Packers on special teams after having one of, if not the worst units in the NFL.

Crosby went 25-34 on his field goal attempts last season for a conversion rate of 73.5%. That is painfully below league average. The moves to acquire Eberle and now Brkic say that the Packers are looking to move on from the best kicker in the history of the team.

If the Packers can get Brkic to be more consistent, they might have their next Mason Crosby.

Green Bay recently hired former Raiders interim head coach Rich Bassachia to help sort out their special teams.

I like this landing spot for Brkic a lot. If he can beat out Crosby, Green Bay could be his NFL home for years to come.

Packers cut K Dominik Eberle, claim K Gabe Brkic off waivers from Vikings

The Packers swapped kickers on the 90-man roster, cutting Dominik Eberle while claiming Gabe Brkic off waivers from the Vikings on Monday.

The Green Bay Packers swapped kickers on Monday, releasing Dominik Eberle from the 90-man roster to make room for Gabe Brkic, who was claimed off of waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. The move was announced on the league’s transactions wire.

Brkic is an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma. Over 38 career games, he made 57 of 69 field goals (82.6 percent) and connected on 159 of 160 extra points (99.2 percent).

Brkic was a three-time Lou Groza Award semifinalist. He was a finalist in 2021 after making 20 of 26 field goals, 57 extra points and a nation-high five field goals of at least 50 yards, including a long of 56 yards.

The Vikings waived Brkic on Friday of last week.

Eberle was signed by the Packers on Feb. 22. He was an undrafted free agent out of Utah State in 2020 who spent time with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia while with the Raiders.

Brkic will compete with veteran Mason Crosby to be the Packers’ kicker in 2022.

Former Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic waived by Vikings

The bane of burritos everywhere is a free agent after being waived by the Minnesota Vikings, who signed him back in May

Whatever kicking competition there was in Minnesota didn’t last long as the Minnesota Vikings announced that they waived former Oklahoma Sooners kicker Gabe Brkic on Friday.

The Vikings signed Brkic as a UDFA last month to compete with Greg Joseph. The Vikings just completed their mandatory minicamp on Wednesday.

Brkic will need to look elsewhere for a job, and may not need to go very far from his former team. A landing spot I liked for Brkic wasn’t Minnesota, but the Green Bay Packers. Incumbent kicker Mason Crosby is a Packers legend, but has been on the decline for a few years now.

Lambeau Field isn’t the easiest place to kick a football, but the Packers play at least two games indoors every year with a trip to both Detroit and Minnesota.

Brkic’s hometown Cleveland Browns drafted LSU’s Cade York in the fourth round, so a homecoming isn’t going to happen.

Brkic’s massive leg was the stuff of legend during his time in Norman, but Brkic became hot and cold during his last couple of years with the Sooners.

He notoriously struggled for a few games after kicking a burrito for an NIL deal.

Brkic is a very talented kicker. He’ll catch on somewhere, though it could be awhile before he’s on a 53-man roster somewhere in the NFL.

Report: Vikings waive undrafted rookie kicker Gabe Brkic

This is a win for Greg Joseph

Well, that didn’t take long.

Rookie undrafted kicker Gabe Brkic signed with the Minnesota Vikings in hopes of pushing starting kicker Greg Joseph for his job, but the veteran fought back and earned his right to stay.

Per the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson, the Vikings have opted to waive the former Oklahoma Sooner and move forward with the more proven option in Joseph.

Brkic struggled enough during the spring practices that the team didn’t even try to keep him heading into training camp. It’s a tough way for things to end for the young kicker, but it also isn’t necessarily the end of the line for him, either.

As for the Vikings, they’ll move forward with Joseph as their kicker. You can rest assured he’ll be sleeping really well knowing the $2.4 million restricted free agent tender he signed back in April is closer to hitting his bank account.

However, it still remains to be seen if the Vikings bring in some more training camp competition to continue pushing him for the starting job.

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