Robbie Gould signing: Giants make placekicker’s addition official

Robbie Gould, new placekicker for the New York Giants, isn’t worried about the fact that he just met his new teammates or that he isn’t sure who will be long-snapping Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.

“These guys are professionals,” Gould said. “I have a lot of respect for what they do. They’re great at what they do. ... As far as the operation is concerned, the thing I’ve been able to pick up the last 11 years and also watching film is just slowing down and being patient. That should take care of a lot of it. These guys are really good at what they do. That’ll make my job easier.”

In addition to Gould being the team’s new placekicker, the ankle injury suffered last week by Zak DeOssie could mean Tyler Ott will have to be elevated from the practice squad to long snap vs. the Rams.

The Giants officially announced Gould’s signing on Saturday morning. He takes the place of Josh Brown, left behind by the Giants when explosive new documents surfaced relating to his May 2015 domestic violence arrest. Brown was removed from the Giants’ roster and placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List by the NFL.

In need of an available kicker who had a passport and could get to a foreign country on short notice, the Giants really couldn’t have done better than the 34-year-old Gould, who spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears before being cut before the start of this season in what amounted to a salary cap move. Instead of paying Gould $2.9 million, the Bears are paying Connor Barth $885,000.

In 2015, Gould connected on 33-of-39 field goal attempts and 28 -of-29 extra point tries. He has made 276-of-323 field goals (85.4 percent) in his career. Gould is tied for the third-best field goal percentage from 50 yards or longer in NFL history (minimum 10 attempts) at 74.2 percent (23-of-31).

“At some point you knew it was going to happen just because of turnover, age, performance,” Gould said. “It was such a great run there. I am so happy that I had the chance to be in one place for so long. Have so many great relationships and friendships. They’ve been an awesome support for me going through being cut, but around for the first six weeks. It’s been great to be able to spend some time with my family. Now, I’m ready to play some football.”

Gould added that it is “exciting” to be with the Giants and that he is “looking forward to having some fun.”

Giants’ coach Ben McAdoo watched Gould kick against his teams twice every season while he was an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers.

“I’ve seen him make a lot of kicks against me in the past,” McAdoo said. “He’s been successful. We’re hoping that continues.”