I used to scratch my head when we'd pay Crosby over and over and over again when really, he was usually anywhere from average to a bit below average as far as kickers go.
But I guess one thing I've learned about kickers is that you're not necessarily paying so much for production as you are for stability. At the end of the year, what's the difference between an 84% kicker and an 88% kicker? Maybe one FG. Not much.
So while it was always easy, and true, to say, "a lot of this teams are getting high end kicker production on rookie contracts", I kind of saw this last year or two, it's not always easy to find that, even if you use an early pick on a guy. Either you have stability at the position, or you're in flux.
All we are really looking to do is not be in flux anymore.