The Kansas City Chiefs' 2024 campaign felt like a bizarro season. From all of the excruciatingly narrow wins to the onslaught of injuries to the Taylor Swift phenomenon, there was a lot going on. Despite the chaos, the organization still managed to win 15 games and return to the Super Bowl.
Among the more wild factoids is that, thanks to those aforementioned injuries, three different kickers made game-winning field goals as time expired. Time and time again, the Chiefs showed their resilience and came out on top regardless of what happened before the final drive.
One of those three guys who knocked in a game-winning kick but left the team is now dominating with his new squad, having all but won the starting job in training camp before even the first preseason game. Kansas City is dealing with its own position battles, though this is an interesting one to watch nonetheless.
This might be done. https://t.co/Btu2lzV1Tp
— Cat Crave (@CatCraveBlog) August 6, 2025
Former Chiefs K Matthew Wright Has Seemingly Won Panthers Job
As noted by Joe Person of The Athletic, ex-Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright went 5-for-5 on attempts using standard-sized goal posts on Wednesday. He's with the Carolina Panthers now and had previously been working on skinny posts designed to test a player's accuracy. That practice method apparently worked, and popular Carolina blog Cat Crave suggested that the position battle may be done.
After the release of Panthers veteran Eddy Piniero, Wright is just competing against rookie Ryan Fitzgerald and has the upper hand. The 29-year-old kicker stepped in for two games with Kansas City when Butker went down with an injury, drilling eight of his nine field goals and knocking in both of his extra points.
The doink for the division! 🙌#Chiefs K Matthew Wright kicks the game-winning 31-yd field goal on Sunday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/4qLp8KFWdI
— Kicker Update (@kickerupdate) December 9, 2024
Fans will fondly remember his incredible doink game-winner to seal the AFC West for the ninth straight year, leaving the Los Angeles Chargers frustrated and stunned. He's no Butker, but Wright still stepped up in clutch moments when he needed to.
Wright has been a bit of a kicking mercenary in the league. He's played for 10 different teams now, actually suiting up for six, though only once appearing in more than six games for any one organization at a time. This is someone grasping onto perhaps his last chance to prove he's one of the 32 best kickers in the world. Based on how camp has gone to this point, Wright seems to be accomplishing his goal.
There's a bit of delicious irony here worth pointing out. Kansas City snatched Butker from Carolina's practice squad and all he's done is become one of the most accomplished kickers in NFL history and a no-doubt Ring of Honor guy, if not a straight-up Hall of Famer.
It's unlikely that Wright returns the favor to the Panthers, though it'll be interesting to see if he can become the team's kicker of the future after his impressive run with the Chiefs.