Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Wednesday that kicker Harrison Butker will keep his job for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "I'm going to stick with Butker," Reid said. "We'll go from there." Butker leads the NFL with seven missed field goals and has made 12 of 19. Last Sunday against the Jets, he missed from 56 yards. A penalty gave him another try, and he missed again from 51. The Arrowhead crowd booed him. The Chiefs signed former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to their practice squad on Oct. 28. The NFL suspended Tucker for 10 games last year after 16 massage therapists accused him of sexual misconduct. Tucker denies it. The 6-2 Chiefs play the Falcons on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Butker Has Earned Time to Fix This

The Chiefs' coaches say a kicker with three Super Bowl rings gets to work through a slump.

His coaches say Butker's track record earns him patience. Butker has won three Super Bowls in Kansas City. Reid called the misses "these little peaks and valleys things" and said Butker "has done such a great job for us." He said he'll take it week by week.

The coaches want to get Butker back on track. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub said, "We're not just going to pull the plug." He said the goal is getting Butker back on track. He pointed out that Tucker missed his share of kicks in 2023 and 2024 and came back. Reid said Butker took most of the practice kicks last week. After the Jets game, Butker said, "I feel confident, I'm excited for the kicks and I've just got to do better."

A Hall of Famer says the job is still Butker's. Hall of Fame kicker Adam Vinatieri told OutKick that "if he can right that ship and get it back, it's his job." He also said misses hurt less when a team is winning by three touchdowns. The Chiefs beat the Jets by 23.

The Chiefs Should Kick Tucker Now

Critics say Butker's numbers are the league's worst, and the Chiefs didn't sign Tucker to sit him.

Butker's slump is more than a few weeks old. He has missed 17 kicks since the start of last season, the most in the NFL. He's 2 for 8 from 50 yards and beyond this year, and he's missed kicks in six of eight games. He also missed a 54-yarder late in a four-point loss at Denver on Nov. 1.

Critics say signing Tucker only makes sense if he plays. CBS analyst J.J. Watt said so on air during the Jets game. "I don't know why you bring him in and invite those distractions if you're not going to make that change," Watt said. Toub himself had called Tucker's tryout "off the charts good."

Fans are running out of patience. After the Jets game, fans on X wrote, "This is getting embarrassing," and, "The ego is getting ridiculous." Vinatieri warned that "as we get to December and into the playoffs, the margin of error shrinks a lot."

Tucker Shouldn't Be on the Team at All

Critics of the signing say the Chiefs put a kicker ahead of the women who accused him.

Critics say the Chiefs chose winning over the accusers. USA Today columnist Nancy Armour called the signing "a choice." She wrote that the NFL's findings were "apparently minor details when compared to the Chiefs desperation to win." She said the team has courted women fans, "but that loyalty and respect only goes one way."

Critics say Reid's answer made it worse. When reporters asked about Tucker, Reid said, "He's done his suspension," and added, "I'll leave it at that for you." Armour called that "the kind of arrogance that makes women question why we continue supporting these leagues and teams." Awful Announcing writer Megan Armstrong wrote that "Reid had several better sentences available."

Two of the accusers spoke out against the signing. The Baltimore Banner reported that one of the women called it "sickening." Another said it showed "no accountability for what he has done." Tucker has called the accusations "unequivocally false" and was never charged or sued.

Where This Lands

Reid and Toub say Butker has earned time to fix his kicking. Vinatieri agrees it's still his job. Watt and frustrated fans say Tucker should kick now. Armour and Tucker's accusers say the Chiefs shouldn't have signed him at all. Reid hasn't said how long Butker will keep the job. Butker is set to kick Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Atlanta.

Sources