2026 Placekicker Options

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2026 Placekicker Options

Re-sign Carlson and assume his mediocre 2025 was an outlier.
7
32%
Re-sign Carlson but sign a UDFA kicker to compete with him in camp. Best man wins the job.
12
55%
Move on from Carlson and draft either Trey Smack, Dominic Zvada, Drew Stevens or Will Ferrin to replace him. We should be able to grab one in Rounds 5-7.
2
9%
Move on from Carlson and sign both a UDFA guy and a vet to compete with each other in camp.
0
No votes
Outbid everyone else for a top FA kicker.
1
5%
Total votes: 22

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Sir Raider Duck, OMS
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2026 Placekicker Options

Unread post by Sir Raider Duck, OMS »

What should we do about our placekicking situation? Carlson's contract is up and he was only 22 for 27 in FGs last season (81.5%, which puts him in the bottom third of the league).
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Unread post by chucker »

I'd like to see them re-sign Carlson for a better value than the last contract. By the way, he was 22/27 - which isn't as good as some of his seasons, but you should correct your numbers as 17/27 is way off.
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Unread post by vtraider »

If he wants to sign a contract in the range of his production with the opportunity to compete for his job. Then ok. Sign it and bring in legit competition
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Unread post by Xramfan »

He was beneficial in getting us the first pick in the draft
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Unread post by Rabidraider »

Xramfan wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 2:42 pm He was beneficial in getting us the first pick in the draft

But messed up our 2nd rounder.
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Unread post by Sir Raider Duck, OMS »

chucker wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 2:33 pm By the way, he was 22/27 - which isn't as good as some of his seasons, but you should correct your numbers as 17/27 is way off.
Corrected. I misread the CBS Sports Kicking page. :thumbsup:
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Unread post by Hellbound »

Sign a vet and udfa. It's not hard to find a good cheap kicker. Plenty of teams do it
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Unread post by FLORIDARAYDAH »

He has been money for years. Bring him back on a reasonable contract but bring in some competition as well. I don't see a big demand for his services. I think he has earned the right to compete
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Unread post by Cruisin with Tooz »

FLORIDARAYDAH wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 3:10 pm He has been money for years. Bring him back on a reasonable contract but bring in some competition as well. I don't see a big demand for his services. I think he has earned the right to compete
How will that work? Once you commit the money are you going to cut him on the basis of a few FG attempts split between the kickers in 3 preseason games? I think once you sign him, he has the job coming out of camp, and he gets canned in season if hes bad.
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Unread post by raidersince63 »

Cruisin with Tooz wrote: Sun Feb 22, 2026 4:13 pm How will that work? Once you commit the money are you going to cut him on the basis of a few FG attempts split between the kickers in 3 preseason games? I think once you sign him, he has the job coming out of camp, and he gets canned in season if hes bad.
I was wondering about the same thing.
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Unread post by BoKnows81 »

Carlson can kick rocks. No pun intended.
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Unread post by Nor_Cal_Raider »

I'd like him back on a better deal. Our entire special teams sucked last year, including some bad snaps
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Unread post by chucker »

I think the snapper was the weak link of the FG unit. However I don't think that a place kicker is a big deal for us in 2026. Whatever we do might carry us to 2027 if it works well, but it's easy enough to change course after 2026 if it doesn't work out. Winning games on the back of a FG kicker in 2026 isn't really interesting to me. Carlson has been money inside of 40, and if you can depend on that then you're probably doing fine. Kickers have down years - it's normal in that world. Justin Tucker was not normal.
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Unread post by GoodTimeCharlie »

Another year, but try to unearth some Rugby/Soccer/Australian (rules) Football guy as a 7th or undrafted. I don’t think we have the luxury of using a draft pick on a K this year, but the way these young guys are booming kicks with ease and precision shows Carlson’s days are numbered.
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Unread post by RunOverByHubbard »

We got a good deal in getting Carlson when he was cut by the Vikings. It feels like we got the best we could out of him and now it’s time to move on. This last year really showed that there are quite a few really good kickers out there scattered all over the league.
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