OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Justin Tucker signed a four-year extension with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced Monday, with a source saying it’s worth $24 million and continues to make Tucker the NFL’s highest-paid kicker.
Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, will earn an average of $6 million per season, the source said, which is $1 million more per season than any other kicker. Tucker’s new deal comes a week after Chris Boswell signed an extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers that had matched Tucker for being the league’s highest-paid kicker at $5 million per season.
Tucker, who had two years left on his current deal, is now signed through 2027 and will receive signing and option bonuses that total $11.5 million, according to the source. The extension also includes $17.5 million guaranteed, the source said, which is $5 million more than any other kicker.
“It means the world to me to continue my career here in Baltimore,” Tucker told the team’s website after signing his deal. “It’s truly special to know I’ll be accounted for, for the next six seasons.”
Tucker, 32, has become one of the NFL’s all-time best kickers in his 10 seasons. Undrafted out of Texas, Tucker currently holds the best field goal percentage in NFL history (91%) as well as the league’s record for the longest field goal (66 yards).
He has been named to the All-Pro first team five times, which is two more than any other kicker. Since entering the league in 2012, he ranks first in the NFL in field goals made (326) and points (1,360).
Known for being clutch, Tucker is 16-of-16 on field goals in the final minute of regulation and has converted 58 straight fourth-quarter/overtime tries, marking the NFL’s longest active streak. Last season, his record-setting, 66-yard field goal beat the Detroit Lions as time expired in regulation.
Asked about talk that he could be inducted into the Hall of Fame someday, Tucker said, “I really try not to think about that stuff. I really try to make it a point to take it one kick at a time. That’s something that I heard from my agent coming out of college, and it’s some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten, right next to my grandfather when I was trying out for the high school varsity team at Westlake [High School] in Austin; he said, ‘Justin, just kick the damn ball.'”
Source:ESPN
