Kansas City Chiefs make Harrison Butker league's highest-paid kicker with new extension
It pays to kick field goals and kickoffs in the NFL – especially for the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champions. On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly signed kicker Harrison Butker to a contract extension that will make him the highest-paid kicker in the league, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Prior to Butker’s extension, the highest-paid kicker in the league was Eagles star Jake Elliott. Elliott is on a four-year deal worth $24 million, averaging $6.0 million a year. The Chiefs kicker has now reportedly surpassed that total with a deal that he negotiated himself. Going into the final year of his deal, he negotiated for a new four-year, $25.6 million extension that includes $17.75 million guaranteed, per Adam Schefter.
Butker, a former seventh-round draft pick out of Georgia Tech, began his career with the Carolina Panthers, though the team waived him before the start of the 2017 season. He then inked with Kansas City. His previous deal with the Chiefs was for five years and $20.27 million.
Last season, he went 33-for-35 on regular-season field goals. He also hit on 38 of 38 extra-point attempts. Through seven seasons, all with the Chiefs, Butker has a 89.1% field goal rate and he’s 309-of-327 on extra points. During the team’s Super Bowl LVIII run, he went 11-for-11 on field goals, including two from 50+.
Butker’s commencement speech dominated headlines
Butker raised eyebrows in May when he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College. In his remarks, he expressed his belief that the main role in society for women is as homemakers and condemning the LGBTQ+ community. He also discussed “dangerous gender ideologies,” among other comments that took aim at abortion, President Joe Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other hot-button topics.
“I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said, via CNN. “How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
The NFL addressed his comments shortly afterward. Chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane also made it clear that Butker’s speech reflected his views only and not those of the league. Commissioner Roger Goodell discussed Butker’s remarks during the NFL Spring Meetings in Nashville, saying the league values its “diversity of opinions.” His quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, also vouched for the kicker.
“I’ve known him for seven years,” Mahomes said. “And I judge him based on the character that he shows every single day. And that’s a good person. That’s someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family, and wants to make a good impact in society. When you’re in the locker room, there’s a lot of people from a lot of different areas of life and they have a lot of different views on everything.”