Chiefs coach: Harrison Butker still the preferred kicker as Justin Tucker joins the practice squad

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub was unequivocal Thursday that Harrison Butker remains their preferred kicker, one day after the team signed five-time All-Pro Justin Tucker to its practice squad after a season spent out of the NFL.

Tucker spent most of last year serving a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. He had been released by the Ravens, where Tucker spent 13 seasons, after The Baltimore Banner reported in 2025 that he was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 massage therapists at high-end spas; the kicker called those allegations “unequivocally false” and “tabloid fodder.”

The Chiefs also worked out Ben Sauls and Harrison Mevis before signing Tucker to serve as both competition and a sounding board for Butker, whose 15 missed kicks since the start of last season are the most in the NFL over that stretch.

“We're trying to get Butker right. That's what this whole thing is about,” Toub said ahead of Sunday's trip to Denver. “You bring Tucker in — he went through some issues, he missed a certain amount of kicks in 2023 and ‘24. He had a lot of things on his mind, mentally, obviously. He’s coming in and kicking great. Get him around Butker, who is having some issues.

“I'm a coach. I'm not a kicking guy. I don't speak that language like they do,” Toub continued. "Yesterday was unbelievable with those guys. They were talking about issues, how you handle it. They're both professionals."

Butker has missed five field-goal tries this season, tied with the Packers' Trey Smack for the most in the NFL, along with a PAT.

During last Sunday night's 20-3 loss in Seattle, the 31-year-old Butker was short on a 58-yarder as time expired in the first half that would have gotten Kansas City within 10-3, then missed a 45-yarder wide right that would have made it 13-6 with 8 1/2 minutes to go.

Seattle proceeded to march 65 yards for a touchdown that put the game away.

Toub said that Butker was trying to be “too accurate” and was worried about pulling the first attempt, which prevented him from getting “the full power on it.” On the second miss, a relative chip-shot in the NFL these days, the special teams coordinator said that pressure off the left side may have contributed to Butker leaving the kick wide of the uprights.

“It was a bad miss,” Toub admitted.

One that ultimately contributed to the decision to bring Tucker into the building.

“Every position has competition. Everybody had somebody behind them that's ready to come up. We didn't have that on the practice squad,” Toub said. “We went out and brought in three kickers and worked them out to get them on the practice squad.

“I'd heard that (Tucker) had been out making the rounds. All the special teams coaches talk. We were his fifth tryout,” Toub added. “The word was he was hitting the ball great and I wanted to see it. I always thought he was a greater kicker.”

Tucker's tryout in Kansas City involved 30 kicks, including 10 extra points and seven over 50 yards, the longest a 60-yarder.

“Not only did he make them,” Toub said, “he was accurate. ... He was off-the-charts good.”

But that doesn't mean the Chiefs are quite ready to shelve Butker, one of the NFL's highest-paid kickers. They still believe he can work though some technique issues and a lapse in confidence that have contributed to a string of misses going back to last season.

During a windy practice Wednesday, Butker made all 10 of his kicks with Tucker standing right behind him.

“That's a good thing,” Toub said. “We're going to keep working it. We're going to kick again today and we're going to keep working it.”

See AP’s full NFL coverage here