One of the key players on Buffalo's own free agent list was re-signed well in advance of the opening of free agency Tuesday. Rian Lindell reached a new multi-year contract agreement with the club, which should allow the veteran kicker to retire as a Bill.
"It's great. Like I said going into the offseason talking with coach and Buddy I want to win here," Lindell told Buffalobills.com. "Obviously you want to win, but I want to win here. This place would go… it went crazy a couple of years back when we were 4-0 and then this year when we were 5-2. To win here I think would be really special so that's something to look forward to."
For the first time in his nine years with the Bills Lindell saw his season cut short by a shoulder injury after making a touchdown-saving tackle against the Jets in Week 9 that landed him on injured reserve. The 12-year veteran went 13-15 on field goals with one of those misses being a blocked kick and he was a perfect 25-for-25 on extra points before succumbing to the injury. But he's healthy now.
"I'm all cleared," he said. "I'm just hitting the weights and starting to get ready for April."
Lindell still led the club with 64 points for the 2011 campaign. He was replaced in the lineup by Dave Rayner, but he did not exhibit the same consistency going 10-for-15 on field goal attempts in the second half of the season. A third kicker Brandon Coutu kicked in the season finale and missed his only attempt.
The Bills veteran kicker admitted that seeing two other kickers on the roster made the free agency process a bit more stressful.
"It was kind of nerve wracking," Lindell said. "Any time you see somebody else in a Bills uniform doing your job it's kind of like, 'Hey wait a minute here.' So it was kind of a rollercoaster to get to this point so I'm glad we got here."
Lindell is the club's all-time most accurate kicker with an 83 percent success rate, almost five percent better in his career than the team's all-time leading scorer Steve Christie (78.3%).
The new deal keeps together one of the most consistent kicker-punter tandems in the league as Brian Moorman and Lindell have handled the kicking duties for the Bills as teammates for the last nine seasons.
