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The Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders participated in one of the uglier NFL contests of the season, but nothing was uglier than Chris Boswell’s performance.
Boswell finished the game 3/3 on extra points, although one bounced in off the right upright, and 0/2 on field goals. If missing two kicks on the day wasn’t bad enough, the team lost by three points, and with a chance to send the team to overtime Boswell slipped and had his kick blocked to end the game.
The season for Boswell has gone from bad, to worse, and now fans want answers. The problem is — Boswell doesn’t have any answers.
This is what Boswell had to say after the game in Week 14:
An absolutely delighted Chris Boswell: #DKPS #Steelers pic.twitter.com/gUDYIVAFse
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) December 10, 2018
The general consensus surrounding the Steelers is they should just part ways with the kicker, but this isn’t a simple decision. Cutting Boswell, after giving him a hefty contract prior to the 2018 regular season, would have salary cap implications next year.
This per Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Steelers signed Chris Bowell to a four-year, $16.8 million contract this summer. If they cut him tomorrow he will count $4.8 million against the cap in 2019, according to spotrac.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) December 10, 2018
While the Steelers will have a larger than usual amount of salary cap space next year, thanks to Le’Veon Bell not playing, the last thing they want to do is have over $4 million of that tied up in paying a kicker who isn’t currently employed by the team.
The truly troubling situation with Boswell isn’t the dead money cap hit, or the fact he is missing some kicks, but how he seems as if he is searching for answers why. If he were able to say there is an alignment issue, or a follow-through problem, it would at least shine the light on the fact he realizes the issue and what needs to be rectified to get it straightened out.
To his credit, he didn’t blame the turf, but considers to look more like a golfer with the ‘yips’, than a Pro Bowl kicker. The next 48 hours for Boswell will be huge when it comes to his future with the Steelers.