Cairo Santos injury: Chiefs sign kicker Sam Ficken to play vs. 49ers
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs have signed kicker Sam Ficken since Cairo Santos will be unable to play in the preseason opener on Friday
The Kansas City Chiefs will have a brand new face among their specialists on Friday when they open the preseason at Arrowhead Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers. Subbing for starting kicker Cairo Santos will be the newly-signed kicker Sam Ficken, as Santos continues to recover from a groin injury that surfaced during training camp in the past week.
The Chiefs never brought in a single competitor for Santos this offseason, allowing the Brazilian some breathing room knowing his job was just fine after a year in which he set a career high mark in field goal percentage made at 88.6 percent. However, the lack of a second kicker has left the Chiefs in a position to audition and then feature a brand new player to everyone, from the coaching staff and front office to fans and media.
Reid, however, said that Santos’s injury “is not a serious deal” so any transaction that adds a new kicker is likely going to be a short-term one. He explains:
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Despite the temporary nature of his tenure with the Chiefs, the chance for any unemployed kicker to receive a tryout under the lights at Arrowhead Stadium is a nice moment for the resume. For any team looking for kicking competition, Ficken will have a chance to show off what he can do.
During his career at Penn State, Ficken developed a reputation as a very accurate kicker with questionable leg strength. He also spent rookie minicamp with the Chiefs back in 2015, so he’s a familiar face to general manager Brett Veach.