As expected after being unable to work out a long-term deal, the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today that they have designated placekicker Connor Barth as the team's franchise player.

Barth just completed his third and most productive season with Tampa Bay, finishing second in the NFL with a 92.9 field goal percentage (26-28), which also marked the best single season field goal percentage in team history. He finished the year making 15 consecutive field goals, the longest active streak in the NFL. In Week 13 of this past season, Barth made NFL history, as he became just the third player to make four or more 40-plus yard field goals in one half (50, 47, 46, 44).

Since joining the Buccaneers during the 2009 season, Barth has made 63-of-75 field goal attempts (84.0 percent) and is a perfect 71-of-71 on PATs. In just his second game with the team in 2009, Barth became the first kicker in team history and the fourth in NFL history to make three field goals of 50 or more yards (50, 51, 54) in a single game.

Barth will make approximately $2.5 million as the franchise tagged player, an average of the NFL's top players at his position.