The Kansas City Chiefs have made another round of moves at the kicker position as the Chiefs continue to withstand waves of injuries throughout the 2024 NFL season.
When starting kicker Harrison Butker was placed on the injured reserve list due to a meniscus issue, the Chiefs signed rookie kicker Spencer Shrader. After one game, capped off by a game-winning walk-off field goal, Shrader suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss last week’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Ahead of the Raiders game, the Chiefs signed kicker Matthew Wright to the practice squad, elevating Wright to kick on Friday while Shrader was ruled out. Now, the Chiefs have made a final call on Shrader and Wright.
On Wednesday, the team officially moved Shrader to IR and signed Wright to the active roster, meaning that Wright will be KC’s only active kicker until Butker’s eventual return, barring another injury or unforeseen development.
Regarding Butker’s recovery timeline and the team’s initial four-week expectations, head coach Andy Reid was asked if Butker’s rehab remains on-target.
“Yeah, potentially, yes,” Reid said on Wednesday. “I mean, he’s doing good. We’ll just see how it goes here in the next week or two, but he is making good progress, that’s a plus.”
Now on their third active-roster kicker, Reid was asked about the organizational feat it takes to keep finding solid, healthy kickers for the team’s depth. Reid began by tipping his hat to general manager Brett Veach.
“I always start with Brett and his crew bringing the guys in,” Reid said. “One of the guys, we knew, so we had confidence there, but you’re into your third kicker, so that’s a little different. But I think it was good for Spencer to get in there and do his thing, he was productive before he got hurt, that was great for him and whatever lies in the future for him. Likewise, Wright, he’ll go this weekend, so we’ll see if he just continues doing what he’s been doing. He’s done a nice job for us.”
Wright kicked for the Chiefs in two games of the 2022 season and went 4-for-5 in his field goal attempts against Las Vegas, hitting kicks of 25, 42, 35 and 37 yards and missing an end-of-half 59-yard attempt.
