Reports: Seahawks to sign kicker Longwell
When the Minnesota Vikings released kicker Ryan Longwell in the offseason, it seemed a given that one of the NFL's most accurate kickers over the past 15 years would turn up in another team's uniform during the 2012 season.
Well, it took until the playoffs, but Longwell may make his season debut for the Seattle Seahawks in their Sunday playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, according to multiple reports.
Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka suffered a calf injury in last weekend's playoff victory against the Washington Redskins, and Seattle brought in Longwell and several other kickers for a Tuesday tryout, according to reports from NFL.com and ESPN.com. The reports say Seattle will sign Longwell, a 38-year-old veteran of six seasons with the Vikings and nine with the Packers before that, and then monitor Hauschka in practice this week before deciding whether to activate the player who ranks 13th on the NFL's all-time scoring list.
Longwell's 83.2 percent career field-goal accuracy ranks 14th in NFL history.