Harrison Butker is missing too many kicks.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ star kicker missed another field goal on Sunday, one of the few downsides from what was otherwise an excellent 37-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a situation that has grown from being a slight worry to a concern. And after Butker equaled two unwanted career lowlights on Sunday, it’s a situation that’s on the brink of becoming a genuine problem.
Butker hooked a 56-yarder wide left late in the second quarter against the Ravens, his fifth missed kick of the season. Something seems off. The 30-year-old missed just four field goals last season, but already he’s one wayward kick away from reaching that same mark in far fewer games.
Butker has missed a field goal in three consecutive games now for just the second time in his career. On top of that, the failed extra point in Week 1 means he’s been off the mark in four straight games—again, something that had only happened once before. He’s never missed a field goal in four straight games or a kick in five straight games.
It’s been a troubling stretch for the highest-paid kicker in the NFL.
It’s worth pointing out that two of those misses have come from long range. There was the 56-yarder against Baltimore and a 58-yard kick wide of the mark against Philadelphia in Week 2. Those aren’t exactly layups, but they are kicks you’d expect Butker to make more often than not, and that hasn’t happened.
When you factor in a miss from 40 yards out and two blown extra points on top of that, those misses become even less excusable, even if you have hit a 59-yard bomb as well.
It is simply not good enough, especially when you are the highest-paid kicker in the league.
Butker signed a four-year, $25.6 million extension in 2024, the largest contract for a kicker in the NFL right now. His $6.4 million average salary per year is also the highest for his position, as is the total and fully guaranteed money he’ll receive. The Chiefs are, quite literally, paying Butker to be the best in the business. And so far, he hasn’t been close to that level.
Butker is kicking at 77 percent on field goals this year (10-for-13), which puts him below the league average of 83 percent so far this season. His extra point conversion rate is only slightly higher—78 percent—which, at this rate, would be by far the lowest of his career.
It leaves the Chiefs with a conundrum: What do you do when an all-time great at his position is struggling?
Two things can be true at once. Butker has been an outstanding kicker across his career. His lifetime field goal accuracy ranks among the best in league history, and he’s made multiple kicks with the game on the line that have literally won Kansas City multiple Super Bowl titles.
It’s also true that he’s in a slump at the moment. And, given the ruthless nature of the NFL, if things don’t improve, Butker might just kick himself out of a job. At some point, the misses will simply become too much. If Butker can’t help the Chiefs win in the future, what he’s been able to do in the past won’t matter. Kansas City will be forced to look elsewhere.
Cutting Butker now would be extreme and an outright mistake. Cutting him sometime this season would be foolish as well, unless his accuracy totally fell off a cliff—something which isn’t unprecedented when it comes to kickers.
But if Butker’s accuracy continues to be subpar or even middle of the road, the Chiefs could decide that the money being given to him could be better spent elsewhere. If you’re paying top dollar for a product but not getting it in return, you won’t keep doing it forever.
Butker is owed $5,805,000 in 2026 but has no guaranteed money in the two years on his contract after that.
It’s hard to put a finger on what’s got Butker in a funk. But according to a Chiefs coach, any lingering knee issues don’t have anything to do with it.
Butker had surgery on his left knee last season – his non-kicking leg – a procedure that landed him on IR and sidelined him for four games. Butker had surgery on his left knee last season—his non-kicking leg—a procedure that landed him on IR and sidelined him for four games.
Butker had been collapsing down on that knee during his follow-through both before and after the operation, but that didn’t appear to impact his accuracy. This year, there’s been a change, with Butker staying upright after his kicks, a notable difference from last year.
Special teams coordinator Dave Toub insisted last week that Butker’s struggles were technical and totally separate from the injury. “He’s in a good spot now because he has confidence in his ankle and he’s not dropping down,” Toub said. “That’s not the issue right now. It’s just the ball contact, the way his foot’s hitting the ball. [He’s] leaving it outside instead of following through. But it’s not the knee. There’s nothing with that.”
Maybe that’s a sign for optimism. Something technical should be easier to fix than a physical injury, right? Hopefully that’s the case.
Butker’s almost unparalleled success has rightly earned him a huge amount of trust and credit in Kansas City. He’s made 44 of his last 45 kicks in the postseason and is quite possibly the greatest playoff kicker ever. But if the misses keep piling up, that credit will start to run out real quick.
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