Can Cody Parkey Be A Pro Bowl Kicker For The Browns In 2021?

2. His Competition Is Justin Tucker

Parkey is in the same division and conference as one of the best kickers in the game.

He is Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, and he has been named to the Pro Bowl five out of his nine seasons.

Being compared to Tucker does not help Parkey’s cause.

Tucker has a career field goal conversion percentage of 90.7%.

He has only missed four extra points in his career for a career conversion percentage of 98.9%.

3. He Will Be Competing For His Job In Training Camp

The Browns claimed Chase McLaughlin, 25, off of waivers from the New York Jets in the offseason.

This implies that there could be a kicking competition in training camp, and that is a good thing.

If any part of the Browns roster has been lacking in the past two seasons, it has been special teams.

Parkey’s Contract

Let’s remember that Parkey was not the starting kicker in 2020.

He came in after Austin Seibert did not do well in Week 1 against Baltimore.

The Browns signed Parkey to a one-year deal in 2020.

They again signed him to a one-year deal in 2021.

It does not appear the Browns are heavily invested in Parkey.

He has ups and downs which make him a difficult kicker to consider for a multi-year contract.

Conclusion

This is one of those cases where the individual honor of being named to the Pro Bowl does not dictate a team’s success.

The Browns are not winning the division with Parkey’s leg.

They are hopefully winning the division with strong offensive and defensive play and an occasional assist by Parkey.

Being a Pro Bowl kicker implies that you are carrying the team offensively.

That is a nice of way saying that the team cannot score a touchdown in the red zone so the kicker has to make a lot of field goals to keep his team in games.

This is precisely what Tucker does for Baltimore which is why he will most likely be the AFC selection for the 2022 Pro Bowl.