Seahawks sign veteran K Olindo Mare to 2-year contract to replace Josh Brown

3/27/2008 7:07 PM

By GREGG BELL
AP Sports Writer

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) -The Seattle Seahawks have signed former Pro Bowl kicker Olindo Mare to a two-year contract to likely replace departed free agent Josh Brown.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed the length of the deal in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Thursday evening. He declined to comment on terms.

Mare spent 10 years with Miami and is the Dolphins' all-time leader in field goals (245), scoring (1,048 points) and field-goal accuracy (.809). He was 10-for-17 on field goals for the New Orleans Saints last season.

Brown, a key to the Seahawks' four consecutive NFC West championships, signed a $14.2 million, five-year contract with the rival St. Louis Rams last month.

Mare has some large kicking shoes to fill in Seattle.

Brown set a career high with 127 points last season, sixth most in the league, and made an even 80 percent of his field goal attempts (116-for-145) in five seasons. He was especially accurate in the clutch and from long range.

The Seahawks thought Brown was valuable enough to offer a contract worth $14 million, but for what Brown said was more years and with more back-loaded money that was not guaranteed. Last year, the Seahawks cherished him so much they used their franchise-player designation on him.

Mare, who also considered signing with the Denver Broncos this week, has six 100-point seasons. In his Pro Bowl season of 1999, he had a career-high 144 points and set a then-NFL record with 39 field goals.

Mare has played in 168 career games and made 255 of 320 field goals (.797), with a career long of 54 yards. He missed the final three games of last season with the Saints after injuring his leg making a tackle on a kickoff.

Even though he is proven, the 34-year-old may have competition for Brown's job.

Wednesday, knowing Mare was due to Seahawks team headquarters for a visit, team president Tim Ruskell said Seattle was continuing to evaluate kickers available in next month's draft.

``We like a lot of kickers in the college game,'' Ruskell said. ``I could foresee where we have a veteran and a rookie in training camp fighting it out. That would be the perfect world for us.''