Former Buccaneers kicker makes NFL history with Commanders

A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker broke the record for most guaranteed money over a year at his position when he signed with the Washington Commanders on Tuesday.

Detailed view of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmet against the New Orleans Saints. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

A former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker is getting a big payday to kick in the NFC East.

Matt Gay, who was drafted by the Buccaneers and kicked for them in 2019, signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders with over $4.25 million guaranteed, per the NFL's Tom Pelissero — that's the most guaranteed money in a year for a kicker in NFL history. The contract comes after Gay signed a four-year, $22.5 million contract with the Colts in 2023, which was the largest free agent contract for a kicker in NFL history at that time.

Gay's one-year stint with Tampa Bay didn't work out well. He kicked for the team in his rookie season in 2019, where he converted on a paltry 77.1% of his field goal attempts and 89.6% of his PATs before the Bucs moved on. He's perhaps most notorious among Bucs fans for a missed field goal in the dying seconds of the team's 2019 game against the New York Giants, pushing a 34-yard field goal to the right to lose 32-31.

He would further become the bane of Tampa Bay fans' existence, just with a different team. Gay has markedly improved since that rookie season and he currently boasts an 85.5% completion percentage over the course of his career. He was the one to end Tampa Bay's Super Bowl hopes in 2021 when he kicked the game-winning field goal in Raymond James Stadium for the Los Angeles Rams to eventually send them to the Super Bowl, a game he'd win and get a ring for.

After two years with the Colts, Gay will now kick for the Commanders, who knocked the Buccaneers out of the playoffs last year en route to an NFC Championship appearance.

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