Should the KC Chiefs consider an extension for Harrison Butker?

Harrison Butker has been a (mostly) reliable place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs for many years now. Should the Chiefs give him an extension, or start looking for a new kicker?

Super Bowl LVII - Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles
Super Bowl LVII - Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles / Cooper Neill/GettyImages
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I've long been a Harrison Butker apologist. Which is why when our editor posed this question, I was kind of surprised. In fact, I was almost a little offended that anyone in Chiefs Kingdom would even be asking such a question like, "Should the Kansas City Chiefs give Butker an extension?"

The answer is absolutely yes. He still has two more years on his current deal so the Chiefs have some time to make it happen, but it definitely should happen.

I was able to go up to St. Joseph during training camp and watch the whole team practice, including Butker. They progressively kept moving him farther and farther back to see how far he could drill a field goal. He was hitting them from 50-60 yards easily.

A friend of mine who was at Chiefs training camp with me was talking about how impressive it was, and he added that outside of maybe Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, there simply isn't a better a kicker in the NFL. I added, "As long as it's not extra points." We both laughed at that because that is the one true caveat with Butker.

Harrison Butker has been a (mostly) reliable place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs for many years now.

For all of the game-winning, ice-in-his-veins kicks that he makes game in and game out, Butker does have a weird knack for missing extra points every once in a while. And it truly is every once in a while. Like me, the average Chiefs fan might say, "He missed them all the time!" However, the truth is, Butker only missed three extra points last season. Three.

And the season before that? Two.

And the season before that? Okay, six, but that was the most Butker has ever missed in his career. The point stands: he hits over 92% of his extra points, and typically hovers around 90% on his field goals too. Last year was down, for sure, but that was in part because he spent a portion of the season kicking injured.

Harrison Butker is still a lights-out kicker, and anyone with a pair of eyeballs knows that. He literally set the franchise record with a 62-yard field goal this past year. Chiefs fans may gripe about the occasional missed kick, but we all know that (outside of Justin Tucker), there isn't another kicker in the league we'd take over Butker.

So yes, the Kansas City Chiefs should extend Butker, either now or later, because if they don't, some other team will give him a very lucrative contract. Everyone talks about wanting to see Chris Jones and Travis Kelce retire a Chief. I want to see Butker do the same.

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