The Santos Dilemma: How Long Is The Leash?

Cairo Santos is not the most popular man in the Chiefs kingdom right now. After going only .500 on field goals in his first three weeks of regular season action, some are calling for him to be on a very short leash. The fact that the man he replaced, Ryan Succop, accounted for more points against the Chiefs in week one than the Kansas City offense scored, didn’t exactly endear the rookie out of Tulane to his new team’s fan base.

October 13, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tulane Green Wave kicker Cairo Santos (19) kicks a field goal to end the first half of a game against the SMU Mustangs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Recently, one of the writers here at Arrowhead Addict sent around some of the Twitter reaction to Santos getting a deal with Nike. The responses were not the most friendly. It’s a great deal for Santos, but many Chiefs fans would like to see him earn that deal a bit more first. (Earned or not, you have to admit that there is a certain amount of irony about a player whose leg is being called into question getting an endorsement from a company known best for athletic shoes)

More from Kansas City Chiefs News

• Multiple Chiefs execs mentioned as strong GM candidates in 2024
• Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
• Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
• KC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator
• Creed Humphrey lands on PFF’s Top 25 Under 25 list

Not surprisingly, that message set about a lengthy debate among some of the AA writers. If you haven’t been involved in a Santos debate yet, the sides basically break down into the short leash and the long leash camps:

• Short leash – Succop would have been four for four on the field goals Santos has attempted. Because Santos missed where Succop would not have, he is a step backwards for the Chiefs. The Chiefs can’t afford a step in wrong direction right now, and when you get your chance in the NFL, you had better make the most of it from the start. If Santos doesn’t shape up really soon, then the Chiefs need to find another option to salvage the kicking game for the rest of the season.
• Long leash – Santos is a rookie, and rookie kickers, like (almost) all first year players, are allowed to have an imperfect start. Adam Vinatieri missed three extra points in his first year. He was also instrumental in a couple of Super Bowls. Santos proved he can kick in the preseason, and deserves more time to get things righted now.

I tend to place myself in the latter camp rather than the former.

For starters, who are the Chiefs going to go after if they release Santos? With as many injuries as the Chiefs have sustained, they don’t have the depth to package someone with Santos in a trade. That leaves free agency. A quick look at the NFL’s  list of kicker free agents (NFL.com/freeagency) is not inspiring. It is a short list consisting of five available names: David Akers, Brandon Bogotay, Shayne Graham, Rian Lindell, and Lawrence Tynes. Of those names, only Bogotay is under 35 years old. He also happens to be an untested rookie previously let go by Cleveland.  And Tynes has already kicked for the Chiefs, before they decided to part ways with him almost a decade ago. If those are the best available options, then I am in no hurry to rush Santos out of the door.

Even if there was a more exciting apparent replacement for Santos, I don’t think we’ve seen enough to put him on short notice. Like the rest of the team, I can’t tell you exactly what Santos is/will be yet. I know his potential is higher than his performance so far. If it wasn’t, the Chiefs wouldn’t have kept him over Succop.  How high is that potential?  Unsure. How long will it take him to get there? I don’t know. I do know that we saw him play better in the preseason. And by better, I mean he didn’t miss a single field goal or extra point attempt. 

So how long should the leash be? Right now, I’m inclined to let the season play out. I see no need to place extra pressure on a rookie after the first three games of his career were a little more shaky than hoped for.

But the reality is that Santos’ leeway will depend on whether or not the Chiefs are winning, and how much he has to do with those results.  As of yet, his leg hasn’t been the difference between a win and a loss. If the Chiefs start winning in spite of him, or losing because of him, then the leash could get pretty tight in a hurry.

Until that happens, I say give the kid a chance.

HAIL TO THE CHIEFS!