NFL Player News

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said Tucker will receive the franchise tag if a long-term contract isn't worked out by March 1,

Newsome is just stating the obvious, as Baltimore doesn't have other strong candidates for the franchise tag, which only costs around $4.5 million for kickers. Given that he arguably has the NFL's best combination of leg strength and accuracy, Tucker will likely expect a contract that matches or surpasses Stephen Gostkowski's record-setting four-year, $17.2 million deal from last offseason. Tucker has proven to be a valuable fantasy commodity, despite mostly being attached to unspectacular offenses. He's very accurate and gets a ton of opportunities from 50+ yards.

Sturgis finished 2015 with 18 field goal makes on 22 attempts and 35 extra point conversions on 37 attempts.

After a rough go in his first game with the Eagles, Sturgis rebounded and rewarded then-head coach Chip Kelly's confidence. This offseason will be an interesting one for Sturgis and fellow kicker Cody Parkey, who ceded the job to Sturgis because of a groin injury. If Parkey is able to perform well during OTAs, he may win his job back. However, if Sturgis outperforms his teammate, he could theoretically dethrone Parkey. It's a good situation for the Eagles, having two kickers they're confident in competing for one spot.

Tucker made 33 of his 40 field-goal attempts (82.5 percent) and all 29 of his extra-point tries during the 2015 season.

Six of his misses came from 50-plus yards, with the other coming from 40-49. Tucker can become an unrestricted free agent in March, and he has a very strong case to become the highest-paid kicker in NFL history. However, the Ravens may opt to use the franchise tag, which would make Tucker a very nice bargain, at least for 2016. The most likely scenario features the Ravens using the franchise tag, then using it as leverage to negotiate a long-term contract. Tucker has proven to be a top-notch fantasy kicker, even when the Baltimore offense is mediocre.

Gano hit five extra points and both field-goal tries during Sunday's NFC championship game win against the Cardinals.

Like his Super Bowl 50 counterpart (Brandon McManus), Gano has yet to miss a kick in the postseason, including a success from 40-49 in both games to date. After making 15-for-20 from 40-plus in the regular season, he's fairly reliable from distance, but more often than not, the NFL's highest-scoring offense handed him PATs, as evidenced by a league-leading 59 attempts.

McManus drilled both field-goal attempts and a pair of field goals during Sunday's AFC championship game victory versus the Patriots.

McManus is pacing the postseason leaderboard with 23 points, which was powered by five field goals made in the divisional round against the Steelers. Including playoffs, he's posted an 88.1-percent success rate in that realm, a mark that would rank ninth among all kickers that logged a full 16-game slate in the regular season. Nonetheless, he'll have his work cut out for him in Super Bowl 50 against a Panthers unit that conceded the second-fewest points per game to kickers (6.0) in 2015.

Graham signed with the Falcons after Matt Bryant suffered a quadriceps injury, and he connected with 11-of-13 field goals in five games.

The 38-year-old filled in well, all things considered. Matt Bryant has one year left on his contract, and while the team will probably look for a younger option this season, the 38-year-old Graham isn't going to be a long term option.

Bryant connected with 14-of-18 field goal attempts in 2015 before a quadriceps injury ended his season.

It was a disappointing year for Bryant, as he missed more kicks this year than he did in 2014, despite playing in six fewer games and attempting 14 fewer kicks. He's got one more year left on his contract, but it won't be surprising if the Falcons bring in a young kicker to push the 40-year-old veteran in camp.

Boswell converted all three field-goal attempts (28, 43, 47) and his lone extra point attempt in Pittsburgh's loss to Denver.

Boswell was a perfect seven of seven on field-goals in the post season, and connected on 29 of 32 field-goals, including a long of 51 yards during the regular season. He also converted 26 of 27 extra point attempts. Boswell was the fourth kicker for Pittsburgh in 2015, and ended up setting Steelers' records for rookie/first year kickers for successful field-goals and for scoring (113 points) in a single season. His 90.6 field-goal percentage ranks first among rookie/first year players in team history, and is tied for fourth in a single season in Steelers history behind Shaun Suisham in 2013 (93.8) Gary Anderson in 1993 (93.3) and Jeff Reed in 2007 (92.0). It remains to be seen who will handle the kicking duties for the Steelers in 2016, but Suisham is owed over $10.5 million over the next three seasons, while Boswell has one year remaining at $525,000.

McManus finished off the regular-season as the tenth leading-scorer in the league with 125 points, converting 30 of 35 field-goals and 35 of 36 PATs.

McManus delivered in his sophomore campaign, leading the Broncos in scoring. He was perfect on the season from the 39-yard line and under and went 10 of 15 beyond the 40-yard line, including a five of seven mark for kicks over fifty yards. He'll look to continue his success in the Broncos' playoff push before becoming a free agent in the offseason.

Gano finished off the regular season second in scoring with 146 points, making 30 of 36 field-goal attempts. He also converted 56 of his 59 extra point attempts.

Gano proved to be one of the league's best kickers after another impressive showing this regular season. He attempted the most field goals in his career, resulting in an 83.3 field-goal percentage. He will look to continue to be a source of production as the Panthers take on the Seahawks on Sunday.