49ers Have Found Eddy Pineiro's Temporary Replacement

Kicker Eddy Pineiro is unlikely to play when the 49ers face the Panthers, so they have just signed his temporary replacement.

Oct 19, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddy Pineiro (18) celebrates after making a field goal during the second quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Kicker Eddy Pineiro is most likely going to be inactive when the San Francisco 49ers play the Carolina Panthers. He's currently dealing with a grade 1 hamstring strain he suffered two days ago.

Given how tricky hamstring injuries are, the 49ers would be wise to hold him out of that game. But now that puts the 49ers in a spot where they need to find Pineiro's temporary replacement.

They have been holding tryouts with several kickers in the last two days. And on Tuesday, they finally picked who the fill-in kicker will be.

49ers sign former Commanders kicker

The 49ers are signing kicker Matt Gay, his agents @davidcanter and @nessmugrabi of @aurasportsgroup tell The Insiders.

San Francisco worked out a bunch of kickers over the past two days and decided to go with Gay, who was just cut by Washington on Monday. pic.twitter.com/R8aYFFy88r

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 19, 2025

The 49ers are signing former Washington Commanders kicker Matt Gay. This is a hilarious signing because the Commanders cut him to sign former 49ers kicker Jake Moody.

However, that also means the Commanders believe Moody is better than Gay. The numbers this season prove it, too. Gay has converted on roughly 68 percent of his kicks this season on 19 attempts, a career low for him.

Meanwhile, Moody is converting on 75 percent of kicks this season on 12 attempts. This is likely not going to pan out well for the 49ers. Gay seems like a lock to miss at least one field goal attempt against the Panthers.

Unless a change of scenery revitalizes him. That's all it takes for a kicker to get back into a groove. Even Moody kicked really well in his lone game with the Chicago Bears.

Nov 2, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers place kicker Eddy Pineiro (18) kicks a field goal against the New York Giants during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The flip side to that is: can anyone trust the 49ers' judgment with kickers? It's a tough call. They hit the nail on the head with Pineiro, so maybe they do.

In any case, the 49ers need to avoid settling for field goals against the Panthers. Their offense is primed to put up touchdowns against them.

That is the only way to mitigate the pressure on Gay. Playing for a new team in primetime could get to him, so it's on the 49ers' offense to avoid placing him in that spot as much as possible.

Hopefully, this is only for one game, but 49ers fans should anticipate that Pineiro is out in Week 13 as well. The 49ers have the Bye Week after that, so they may be inclined to sit him again.

It's better to get Pineiro fully healthy so they can fully rely on him for their playoff push.

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