After an uneven start to the season, Harrison Butker has seemed to hit his stride in the last couple of weeks. The Kansas City Chiefs had a few consecutive games without a kicking blunder, and Butker is now at 82.4% in field goals and 23/26 in extra point attempts this season. This has made calls to replace him grow quieter, at least for the time being.
The player some fans wanted the Chiefs to replace Butker was former Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright. Every time Wright has had an opportunity in Kansas City, where he has had three different stints, he has delivered.
Yet, he has been struggling to get a starting kicker position in recent years, and he just signed for his fourth team this season. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Tuesday that Wright was signing with the Houston Texans' practice squad.
Ex-Chiefs Kicker Matthew Wright Continues to Bounce Around the NFL
Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn is reportedly dealing with lower-body injury, and his availability for Week 10 is up in the air. Wright provides insurance in case Fairbairn can't go on Sunday against the Jaguars.
This is a situation Wright is all too familiar with. The 29-year-old finished last season with the Titans and signed with the Panthers for his third stint there in the offseason. He was released before the season and returned to the Titans. His tenure there only lasted one game before he signed with the Commanders when Matt Gay suffered an injury. His only game in Washington came against the Chiefs in Week 8, when he converted his only kick of the game, an extra point in the 28-7 loss.
Wright was released the day after the game and has been a free agent ever since. If he suits up for the Texans, they will be the eighth team Wright has suited up for in an NFL regular-season game. He played for three different teams in 2024, and he is about to play for three teams this season as well, an impressive track record that is hard to beat.
The more surprising aspect of Wright's career is the fact that he has been accurate and reliable throughout his career. His 87.5% field goal accuracy and 95.6% in extra points are on par with solid veteran kickers.
He is 7/11 in field goals over 50 yards, and his career-long made field goal is a 59-yarder. That seems like the resume of a starting kicker in the NFL, but that hasn't been the case for him since he played 14 games for the Jaguars in 2021. Whether that will change any time soon remains to be seen.