KC Chiefs add COVID insurance behind Harrison Butker

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially added some protection at kicker with the signing of Elliott Fry to the team’s practice squad. The signing offers up some insurance behind Harrison Butker at a point where teams are having significant problems dealing with the spread of COVID-19.

On the surface, the idea of adding a young kicker, even on the practice squad feels like a waste of space. After all, Butker is healthy and an ideal young kicker who is already signed under contract through the 2024 season. While the practice squad has a total of 16 spots these days living with the coronavirus, they are all still important slots for potentially developing long-term talent and kicker is just not a position the Chiefs should be worried about such things.

However, in just the last 24 hours alone, the Chiefs have watched both wide receiver and defensive tackle get thinner with Josh Gordon and Chris Jones on the team’s COVID-19 protocols. Many teams are seeing a serious spread of the virus on their own roster despite the league’s safety measures in place and the high level of vaccination rates around the NFL.

The Chiefs now have some insurance at kicker in case of a COVID spread to Harrison Butker.

Thus it makes sense for general manager Brett Veach to ensure special teams remain special by not going from hero to zero at kicker when the risk is there.

Fry is the new signing for the Chiefs and he might be a familiar name for some fans who pay close attention to the league’s transaction wire already. A former kicker for the University of South Carolina, Fry has bounced around the NFL for the last few years including short stints with the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent most of the last year or more with the Atlanta Falcons—at least when he was employed.

Fry has only attempted a single field goal in his NFL career, a 23-yard make in 2020 with the Falcons.