Lawrence Tynes has already kicked the Giants into a Super Bowl twice, but he may never get the chance to do it again.
With Tynes scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next month, the Giants got some kicker insurance on Wednesday when they signed veteran David Buehler. The 26-year-old Buehler last kicked with the Dallas Cowboys from 2009 through the first four games of 2011, and was last their field-goal kicker in 2010.
Tynes, who'll turn 35 in May, just finished up a five-year, $7 million contract with the Giants. They'd like him back again, but according to an NFL source Tynes would like to see if a big pay day awaits him on the open market. The Buehler signing appears to be the cap-strapped Giants' way of protecting themselves in case Tynes leaves.
Tynes has been a steady presence for the Giants since arriving in 2007 and is coming off one of his finest seasons, in which he made 84.6 percent of his field goal attempts (33 of 39) last year. Of course, he is most famous for his two overtime field goals in the 2007 and 2011 NFC championship games that sent the Giants on to their two most recent Super Bowls. The first was a 47-yarder in frigid conditions in Green Bay, and the second was a 31-yarder at muddy Candlestick Park in San Francisco just one year ago.
Buehler was the Cowboys' fifth-round pick out of USC in 2009. During his stint in Dallas he had 60 touchbacks on 175 kickoffs (34.3 percent). As their field goal kicker in 2011, he connected on 75 percent of his attempts(24 of 32). He did not kick in the NFL last season.
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