Argonauts interested in Vanderjagt: source
CFL team planning to contact NFL's most accurate kicker
Could kicker Mike Vanderjagt soon be returning to the Toronto Argonauts, with whom he won Grey Cups in 1996 and 1997 before bolting for the National Football League?
The Argos, who lost kicker Noel Prefontaine to concussion symptoms in the second quarter of Saturday's 41-13 Canadian Football League victory in Saskatchewan, are planning to contact Vanderjagt in hopes he would suit up for the East final on Nov. 18 in Toronto, a league source told CFL on CBC host Elliotte Friedman.
Friedmansaid the Winnipeg Blue Bombers attempted to lure Vanderjagt prior to their Oct. 27 game in Toronto but were rebuffed by the native of Oakville, Ont.
But there would besome risk for Vanderjagt if he accepted an offer from the Argos. Under NFL rules, players who participate in the last game for a team in another leagueare ineligible to return to the NFLin the currentseason.
In other words, if Toronto falls to Montreal or Winnipeg in the East final, Vanderjagt couldn't play in the NFL until September 2008.
The most accurate kicker in NFL history, Vanderjagt hasn't played in the league since the Dallas Cowboys released him last Nov. 27 when he posted a career-low 72.2 per cent field-goal success rate.
Vanderjagt was sensational for the Indianapolis Colts in the 2005-06 season, connecting on 23 of 25 field goals and all 52 converts for 121 points in 16 games.
But a missed 46-yard field goal in the closing seconds of a 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Game knocked the Colts out of the playoffs and Vanderjagt out of a job.
Prefontaine, who suffered a concussion earlier in the season, connected on a 26-yard field goal in the first quarter Saturday to give Toronto a 10-0 lead before giving way to Chris Hardy.