Wilson: Ravens sign Cundiff to replace Hauschka

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The Baltimore Ravens made it official, signing Billy Cundiff as their new kicker one day after cutting a struggling Steve Hauschka.

Cundiff, 29, connected on all six of his field goals this season with the Cleveland Browns while filling in for an injured Phil Dawson.

"This is what teams go through," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of having to switch kickers. "We were hoping it would work out with Steve. We took it as long as we could. He's just not there yet.

"[Cundiff] is a talented guy. He's had success. We'll just see how it goes.There's no way to accurately foresee what will happen, but he's a veteran kicker who has been in this situation before."

During a previous stint with the Dallas Cowboys, Cundiff hit 60 of 82 field goals with a long kick of 56 yards.

Cundiff has previous stints with the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions.

"I think in the NFL, it's a replacement business," Cundiff said. "No matter if the guy before you did really well or struggled a little bit, your job doesn't change. Your job is to come in here and make field goals. My objective is to provide the team some stability make some kicks and help the team win."

Cundiff beat out Mike Nugent for the job.

"They were very close," Harbaugh said. "They had similar stats. They were similar in workouts, both about 85 percent. Billy is probably a little further along on his kickoffs."

Ironically, the Ravens will face the Indianapolis Colts and former kicker Matt Stover. Stover has hit all six field goals in place of Adam Vinatieri.

Stover wasn't retained by the Ravens when his contract expired after last season.

Hauschka wound up missing four of his 13 field-goal attempts this season as Stover's replacement.

Meanwhile, the Ravens declared that outside linebacker Terrell Suggs is definitely out this week and rookie Paul Kruger will start in his place.

Suggs is expected to miss two to three weeks with a mild tear of his medial collateral ligament in his right knee, according to a league source.

He underwent another magnetic resonance imaging exam today to confirm the initial prognosis.

The Ravens promoted safety K.J. Gerard from the practice squad to fill in for safety Haruki Nakamura, who is being placed on injured reserve with a broken ankle.

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