The Chiefs have found themselves in a pickle. Their longtime kicker, Harrison Butker, kind of sucks. He has missed five of his 16 field goal attempts so far this season, including two in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks. This scenario, in which a once-reliable kicker stops being useful, is one teams deal with all the time, and it comes with a relatively easy solution: You cut the guy and sign one of the many unemployed kickers floating around the league's margins. Butker isn't just any kicker, though. He's also a conservative freak and a misogynist, which means that the Chiefs could make themselves far less odious by cutting him. You can't just let someone that awful and despised walk out the door without replacing at least some of what he brings to the table, though. Which brings us to today's news: The Chiefs have signed Justin Tucker to the practice squad.
According to ESPN, Tucker has been signed to Kansas City's practice squad to "serve as insurance" to Butker. The message the Chiefs are sending to their struggling kicker is clear: You think we can't find a guy who is even more of an awful person than you are? Think again.
Tucker, who turns 37 next month, has been out of the NFL since 2025. The Ravens released him that spring after 16 massage therapists from eight different spas in the Baltimore area accused Tucker of sexual misconduct. The Baltimore Banner published multiple stories in which massage therapists who worked at these spas described Tucker exposing his erect penis, brushing his fingers against their thighs, and leaving ejaculate on the massage table. Tucker received a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, which he served last season.
The Andy Reid Chiefs have never been a team that worries too much about the moral implications of their roster decisions, and in this particular case they seem to have deduced that bringing Tucker into the building is worth any accompanying reputational harm. It's hard to argue that their calculation is wrong. Hell, if Tucker makes it onto the 53-man roster and ends up hitting a few big kicks for the Chiefs down the stretch, the league and media may go ahead and decide that he's one of the inspirational heroes of the NFL season. They've already done as much for Deshaun Watson.
