Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri wants to play a “maximum” of three more years

This might sound obvious, but Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri is nearing the end of his career.

The oldest player in football, the 43-year old Vinatieri recently told Barstool Sports’ podcast “Pardon My Take” that he’ll play at most three more years. Yahoo Sports’ Shalise Manza Young pointed out the quote yesterday: “We’ll see,” Vinatieri said. “Maximum would be three years, minimum would be day-to-day.”

This shouldn’t be any surprise, because it’s actually something Vinatieri’s been hinting at for months. Back when the Colts re-signed him this offseason, he mentioned that it was harder to get a deal done than it should have been because the two sides were at odds on the length of a contract. Vinatieri wanted a three-year deal, but the two sides eventually compromised on a two-year extension.

"In a perfect world I would have signed a three-year deal,'' Vinatieri told CBS4’s Mike Chappell in March after re-signing with the Colts. "It wasn't in the cards. Hopefully I can play well enough for he next two years that will warrant me playing one more season.''

So he’s been suggesting for months that he wants to keep playing three more years, and if he continues to kick the way he has been the Colts will surely be glad to keep him around. He’s made 55 of 58 kicks over the past two seasons (94.8%), the most accurate of any kicker during that span. Furthermore, he’s done it from long distance too. The MMQB’s Peter King pointed out a great note about Vinatieri yesterday from the Football Outsiders’ Almanac: Vinatieri has hit more field goals of 50+ yards in the last four years (15) than in the first 16 years of his career combined (12). It’s safe to say that the Colts’ kicker is still as good as ever - and, actually, even better.

There’s another reason why he’d like to play three more years: if he does so, he likely will become the NFL’s all-time leader in both points scored and field goals made. He’s currently third in the record books in both categories and is just 291 points and 62 made field goals away from first place. Realistically, three more seasons should get him there, so if he’s still kicking at a high level he’d surely love to go after those records.

So to recap, Vinatieri suggesting that he’d like to ideally play three more years is nothing new, and it makes perfect sense. As long as he’s still kicking like he has been, the Colts will surely let him keep going as long as he wants.