In the next few weeks Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to issue a second-round restricted tender to kicker Chris Boswell and that one-year offer should come in at around $2.965 million. When and if that ultimately happens, the Steelers will probably then use the remainder of the offseason to attempt to try to sign Boswell to a long-term contract extension. Ahead of that happening, however, it’s worth pointing out that a new contract signed this past week by Tennessee Titans kicker Ryan Succop is likely to serve as a solid floor as to what Boswell might ultimately receive from the Steelers.
According to Pro Football Talk, Succop, who in his four seasons with the Titans has made 86.5% of his field-goal attempts and 95.5% of his extra points, recently signed a five-year, $20 million contract with the Titans that included a $3.5 million signing bonus. Also, his $2.25 million base salary for 2018 is also reportedly fully guaranteed per the report. Below is what that reported deal looks like on paper by year along with his salary cap charges.
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | CAP CHARGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $2,250,000 | $700,000 | $0 | $0 | $2,950,000 |
| 2019 | $2,500,000 | $700,000 | $0 | $0 | $3,200,000 |
| 2020 | $3,400,000 | $700,000 | $0 | $0 | $4,100,000 |
| 2021 | $3,850,000 | $700,000 | $0 | $0 | $4,550,000 |
| 2022 | $4,500,000 | $700,000 | $0 | $0 | $5,200,000 |
Succop’s new $4 million per season average now makes him the fourth-highest paid kicker in the NFL behind Stephen Gostkowski ($4.3M), Justin Tucker ($4.2M) and Mason Crosby ($4.025M). It’s also probably worth noting that the Carolina Panthers are expected to place the franchise tag on kicker Graham Gano in the coming weeks and that should result in a one-year offer of around $5 million. From there, the Panthers might try to sign Gano to a long-term contract extension later in the summer.
As far as Boswell goes, it’s important to keep in mind that his potential earnings over the course of the next two seasons are essentially capped at the price of a second-round tender this year and whatever the franchise tag amount for kickers winds up being a year from now. In short, a new deal for Boswell later this year will likely average more than the one that Succop just signed and maybe even slightly more than Gostkowski’s $4.3 million average. The New England Patriots kicker also signed that contract in July of 2015.
This past regular season, Boswell, who was voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time this past December, was good on 35 of his 38 field goal attempts, and 37 of 39 on his extra point attempts. As pointed out a few weeks ago, Boswell now has an 89.5% career field goal conversion rate and only three other kickers in NFL history have posted a higher rate in a player’s first 3 years and a minimum of 90 total attempts.
