Kickers always seem to make a big difference in a game, but they aren’t usually highly valued on the free agency market. There are a couple notable placekickers hitting the market this year, including one of the most automatic of recent years.
We polled a group of writers from around SB Nation to gather consensus rankings about the available players.
We will remove players from the list as they re-sign with their current teams all the way up to the opening of free agency in March.
7. Riley Patterson, Cleveland Browns
Patterson spent time on three different rosters in 2024 and battled to make just 57% of his kicks.
6. Brandon McManus, Green Bay Packers
Coming off a veteran minimum deal in 2024, the soon-to-be 34-year-old kicker had a strong year in 2024, nailing more than 95% of his field goal attempts and all 30 extra points, both well above his career average. He was at 81% in 2023 and 78% in 2022. He was a midseason signing for Green Bay, joining the team in mid-October. McManus was accused of sexual assault in May 2024 by two flight attendants on the Jaguars’ team flight from Jacksonville to London. The league has said there was not enough evidence to pursue a suspension and both sides of the lawsuit say the issue was resolved prior to his signing with the Packers.
5. Michael Badgley, Detroit Lions
Badgley missed the 2024 season with a torn hamstring suffered in July. He only played in four games in 2023 as a practice squad call up after spending parts of the 2023 offseason on the Lions, Commanders, and Titans before re-signing with the Detroit practice squad. He was on a vet minimum deal.
4. Eddy Piñeiro, Carolina Panthers
Piñeiro actually received two first-place votes from out panel but was ranked sixth or worse on two others. He’s coming off a three-year stint as the Panthers kicker where he was just under 90% field goal percentage and hit 92% of his extra points. He just completed a two-year, $4.1 million deal.
3. Joey Slye, New England Patriots
Slye signed with New England in May after being cut by the Jaguars after Jacksonville signed him in March. Previously he spent two seasons with Washington after three teams in 2021. He’s been under 80% in field goal percentage the last two seasons. He played for the veteran minimum in 2024.
2. Matt Prater, Arizona Cardinals
Barely the oldest player on the list, Prater turns 41 just before the 2025 season. He missed most of the 2024 season after tearing the meniscus in his plant leg in Week 5. He was 16-of-16 on field goals and extra points before his injury coming off an 85% conversion percentage in 2023. He was playing on a two-year, $7.5 million deal.
1. Nick Folk, Tennessee Titans
The 17-year vet has been darn near automatic the last two seasons, making 96.7% and 95.5% of his field goals playing for the Titans. He just turned 40, though, and Tennessee was reluctant to trot him out for deep kicks at least partly to do with his age. (He is a few months younger than Prater.) He played on a one-year, $3.755 million deal in 2024.
