Chiefs news: Former kicker Ryan Succop hits free agency

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released a familiar face for Kansas City Chiefs fans when they cut kicker Ryan Succop.

The NFL’s free agency period might be slowing down as we get further into spring, but there’s still plenty of player movement on the league’s transaction wire. This makes it common to see familiar faces come and go for Chiefs Kingdom, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently cut a name of note when they released kicker Ryan Succop to create salary cap space

.The Chiefs have fared better than most teams in recent years with their roster decisions at kicker. Even if one kicker went down, it seemed like the next would always be able to step right up while other franchises—such as the Chargers—would struggle for years to find someone consistent enough to employ year to year.

Succop was a nice find for the Chiefs back in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by general manager Scott Pioli. Taken at 256th overall out of South Carolina, Succop played for the Chiefs for five years and converted 81 percent of his field goal attempts and 100 percent of his extra point attempts during that span.

The Titans signed him away from K.C. with a hefty free-agent contract back in 2014 and he would be their kicker for the next six seasons until 2020 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came calling with a three-year stretch where he would be their kicker as well. He was able to finally reach the Super Bowl with Tom Brady and the Bucs.

From Succop, the Chiefs would rely on Cairo Santos to carry the kicking torch for a few years before a groin injury would cost him the job to Harrison Butker, a practice squad claim from the Carolina Panthers. Butker has been the Chiefs’ kicker ever since 2017.

Succop has made 320 field goals in his NFL career, placing him at No. 29 all-time.

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