Akers era over: Eagles draft kicker

David Akers has likely played his last game as an Eagle. In the 4th round of the 2011 NFL draft, the Eagles took the best kicker available, Alex Henery from Nebraska. All indications are that Henery has a strong leg and is very accurate from long distance and that he should have good career in the NFL.

What this means for Akers, whose contract is up and hasn't signed the transition tag the Birds offered him, is there is little chance he kicks for the Eagles again. Teams don't use 4th round picks on kickers if they don't intend to keep them on the roster. If the Eagles were planning on signing Akers and they just wanted to have some competition for him in camp, they would have waited until the last round or even picked up a free agent kicker.

Thanks for all of the memories, David Akers. While his last game in an Eagles uniform was one to forget, he was one of the best kickers in the league for the last decade. Now that he is getting up their in years and is starting to lose leg strength, it's probably best to cut bait and move on. The Eagles are pretty good about knowing when their veterans just don't have it anymore so it's pretty safe to trust their judgement on this one.