The Patiots named kicker Adam Vinatieri their franchise player.

Normally, one of the first priorities in free agency for expansion teams is finding great, young kickers. Well, enough teams watched the past three expansion teams make those moves, so the push was to lock up as many top kickers as possible.

To the chagrin of the Houston Texans, the Patriots placed a franchise tag on kicker Adam Vinatieri of the Patriots and the Broncos did the same with Pro Bowler Jason Elam. Unless the Texans sign Mike Hollis of the Jaguars, Houston may have to alter its goals of signing players under the age of 30 to be their place-kicker. John Carney and Morten Anderson might be the best available but they are older than 37.

There are a few powerful legs available as punters such as Mitch Berger, who was cut by the Vikings and Matt Turk of the Dolphins.

Teams looking for return specialists can find them in Packers cornerback Allen Rossum, Falcons cornerback Darrien Gordon and Nate Jacquet of the Vikings.

John Clayton is an ESPN.com senior writer.