The Colts are pulling the plug on Matt Gay, and I can’t say I’m surprised. He hasn’t been the same kicker for them that he was in Los Angeles.
As a refresher, Gay was released by the Bucs after one season. With the Rams, he turned into a reliable kicker, making 94 percent of his kicks in his two and half seasons. (He also won a Super Bowl).
In the 2021-22 seasons, Gay was the most accurate kicker in the league among those who attempted at least 50 field goals.
That’s when the Colts decided to sign him to a four-year contract worth $22.5 million. They decided they wanted a difference-maker at the position.
But Gay with the Colts hasn’t been as good. He’s made a below-average 82 percent of his field goals in two years. With his play not measuring up to his paycheck, they cut him loose today.
The plan now is to go with youngster Spencer Shrader. He did not perform at a pro level when he was in college, hitting under 70 percent of his field goals in his final seasons at South Florida and Notre Dame. But he made all 14 of his kicks last year (9 field goals and 5 extra points) as a fill-in guy for multiple teams.
If nothing else, Shrader is a lot cheaper.
Gay is good enough that I expect that he’ll be landing somewhere. All 6 of his missed field goals last year came from 50-plus yards.
| FIELD GOAL ACCURACY, LAST FOUR YEARS | |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 seasons | 2023-24 seasons |
| 93.7% Matt Gay | 96.1% Nick Folk |
| 92.5% Daniel Carlson | 93.6% Chase McLaughlin |
| 90.0% Justin Tucker | 93.3% Chris Boswell |
| 90.0% Brett Maher | 93.3% Cameron Dicker |
| 89.4% Nick Folk | 90.0% Ka'imi Fairbairn |
| 89.3% Younghoe Koo | 90.0% Harrison Butker |
| 89.2% Jake Elliott | 89.7% Wil Lutz |
| 89.2% Graham Gano | 89.4% Brandon Aubrey |
| 88.6% Cairo Santos | 88.8% Cairo Santos |
| 88.0% Ka'imi Fairbairn | 88.4% Jason Sanders |
| 87.3% Tyler Bass | 86.2% Brandon McManus |
| 87.2% Joey Slye | 85.7% Daniel Carlson |
| 85.4% Robbie Gould | 85.4% Eddy Pineiro |
| 85.0% Jason Myers | 85.2% Jake Elliott |
| 84.3% Randy Bullock | 84.7% Jason Myers |
| 84.0% Michael Badgley | 83.8% Blake Grupe |
| 83.8% Matt Prater | 83.0% Greg Zuerlein |
| 83.8% Evan McPherson | 82.7% Tyler Bass |
| 83.0% Greg Joseph | 82.0% Matt Gay |
| 82.6% Harrison Butker | 80.9% Dustin Hopkins |
| 82.3% Chris Boswell | 80.5% Justin Tucker |
| 82.3% Ryan Succop | 80.2% Younghoe Koo |
| 81.9% Greg Zuerlein | 80.0% Greg Joseph |
| 80.5% Brandon McManus | 79.2% Evan McPherson |
| 79.3% Mason Crosby | 78.9% Joey Slye |
| 78.9% Chase McLaughlin | 77.1% Chad Ryland |
| 77.7% Jason Sanders | 76.2% Jake Moody |
—Ian Allan
