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Josh Brown may have just kicked Mike Nugent out of a future in Cincinnati.
After Nugent hurt his calf practicing onside kicks, eventually placed on Injured Reserve, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Josh Brown to a one-year deal (the rest of 2012) to replace him.
Boy, did he.
The unemployed kicker went on to convert 11 of 12 field goals in December, including a game winner against the Pittsburgh Steelers; his lone miss being a ridiculously attempted 56-yarder in a stadium (Heinz Field) that's never witnessed anything longer than 52 yards. The performance earned him the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month, the hearts of every Bengals fan and a recently acquired nervous tick from Mike Nugent.
Naturally the Bengals want to keep him around.
Brown, who also nailed two kicks on Saturday, and Nugent are unrestricted free agents.
Based on their history of franchise players, we tend to leave after their franchise tag season, we suspect Nugent will move on and Brown will have the job even before training camp starts. However we expect that the Bengals may sign both for competition this summer. Stay tuned.