Highest-Paid Kickers in NFL: Are the Best Kickers Also the Highest Paid?

19+ | Connexontario.ca | Play responsibly

NFL fans often overlook the importance of kickers, yet their crucial contributions as the ‘finishers’ mean that they’re the most likely to score points and bag wins.

In the last decade, some prolific kickers have demonstrated that there’s no good reason they should be considered inferior to their teammates in terms of physicality, efficiency and even salary. We look into the highest-paid kickers in the NFL.

Which NFL Kicker Earns The Most?

Naturally, as the NFL’s revenue and salary cap increase, so do players’ salaries. In recent years, the league’s top kickers have been major beneficiaries who are making more money now than they’ve ever historically made before.

Read on for our selection of the top 10, highest-paid NFL kickers:

Matt Gay

Matt Gay sits at the top of the list of the highest-paid kickers in the NFL for the 2023 season. He was a Pro Bowler in 2021 – the year he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl. After becoming a free agent following the 2022 season, Gay signed a four-year, $22.5 million contract with the Colts. That deal included an $8 million signing bonus.

Combined with his $1.1 million base salary, Gay earned $9.1 million in 2023, making him the highest-paid NFL kicker. On top of earning the largest free-agent contract for an NFL kicker, Gay also holds the single-game record with four field goals of 50 yards or more.

Jason Myers

It took some time for Jason Myers to establish himself as a top-flight kicker, but he eventually got there. He made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and then again in 2022 when he led the NFL in scoring.

Before the 2019 season, Myers signed a four-year, $15.45 million contract with the Seahawks. He then signed a contract extension with the Seahawks before the 2023 season, and thanks to his signing bonus, earned $8.7 million in 2023.

Justin Tucker

It’s a common opinion among fans and pundits that Tucker is the greatest kicker in NFL history. He holds the NFL’s all-time career record for field goal percentage and also made the longest field goal in NFL history at 66 yards.

Tucker is renowned as a seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time First-Team All-Pro selection. He’s spent his entire career with the Ravens, who gave him a four-year, $24 million extension in 2022 – this made him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. This very same contract paid a $7.3 million salary to Tucker in 2023.

Graham Gano

Born in Scotland, Graham Gano grew up in Florida and has spent more than a decade in the NFL after a brief stint, one season, in the United Football League (UFL).

While there have been some ups and downs in his career, Gano made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and hasn’t appeared to struggle with finding a job. In 2023, he earned $6.3 million.

Tyler Bass

The Bills used a sixth-round pick to draft Tyler Bass in 2020 and haven’t looked back since. In 2020, he set a rookie record by making a 54-yard field goal in a playoff game.

Despite the volatility expected for those kicking in Buffalo’s windy conditions, Bass has been remarkably reliable. Before the 2023 season, the Bills gave Bass a four-year, $21 million extension, which led to him making $6.1 million in earnings in 2023.

Jake Elliott

The Bengals drafted Jake Elliott in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, only to cut him before the season. However, Elliott soon landed on his feet with the Eagles and has established himself as one of the NFL’s highest-paid and most reliable kickers.

As a rookie, Elliott won the Super Bowl with the Eagles and earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2021. The five-year, $21.8 million extension he signed in 2019 allowed him to earn a more-than-respectable $4.3 million in 2023.

Chris Boswell

After being cut by two different teams, Chris Boswell caught on with the Steelers and has been in Pittsburgh ever since. He made the Pro Bowl in 2018 and was rewarded for his consistency in 2022 with a four-year, $20 million extension – this left him with a $4 million salary for the 2023 season.

Matt Prater

Matt Prater is one of the NFL’s longest-tenured kickers. After struggling to make a roster for more than a year, Prater enjoyed a long stint with the Broncos from 2007 to 2014 and was with the Lions from 2014 to 2020.

Along the way, Prater made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2016. In 2021, Prater signed with the Cardinals and then got an extension in 2023 that came with a $4 million salary.

Harrison Butker

Harrison Butker has been an integral part of the Chiefs winning two Super Bowls during his tenure. He’s made several key field goals during Kansas City’s recent playoff runs. The five-year, $20.3 million extension Butker signed with the Chiefs in 2019 gave him a $3.7 million salary for the 2023 season.

Ka’imi Fairbairn

During his final season of college, Fairbairn won the coveted Lou Groza Award. He went undrafted but signed with the Texans – consequently, his career is very much rooted there. Fairbairn’s career highlight has been leading the NFL in scoring in 2018. He also earned a four-year, $17.65 million extension in 2020, which gives him an annual salary of around $4.4 million.

All-Time Highest Paid Kickers in the NFL

With the four-year, $24 million extension Justin Tucker received in 2022, he jumped to the top of the list of the best-paid kickers in NFL history. That contract gave Tucker an annual salary of $6 million, which is the highest annual salary an NFL kicker has ever had.

Bet on the Highest Paid Kickers in the NFL with BetVictor CA

Here at BetVictor CA, we boast a plethora of NFL betting possibilities. So, for example, on top of placing traditional bets on the outcome of games, you can dabble with prop bets for each game, including bets for niche markets like the NFL’s highest-paid kickers.

In addition, we offer our customers great promos and offers, which can be easily accessed via our sleek and intuitive platform.

Finally, as advocates for responsible betting, we take great pride in providing our users with safe gambling tools including options to set deposit and self-exclusion limits.

19+ | Opt in | T&Cs apply | Connexontario.ca | Play responsibly.

Highest Paid Kickers in NFL FAQs