Chiefs Add Former All-Pro Kicker Justin Tucker to Practice Squad as Butker Struggles

The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing in competition at kicker. Several reports indicate the team is signing eight-time All-Pro Justin Tucker to its practice squad, a move that comes as Harrison Butker is tied for the most missed field goals in the NFL this season.

The signing was first reported by Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star. Head coach Andy Reid confirmed it during his weekly Wednesday press conference.

Tucker ranks second all-time in NFL field goal percentage, and Butker sits in the top five on that same list. Tucker has not played for a team since the Baltimore Ravens released him in May 2025. That release followed reports of allegations of improper conduct during massage therapy sessions between 2012 and 2016. The NFL investigated and suspended him for 10 games under its personal conduct policy, even though he never faced formal criminal charges.

Reid was asked about the circumstances surrounding Tucker. "He's done his suspension," Reid said. "Took care of that business there. I'll leave it at that for you." Pressed on the team giving a second chance to another player with a checkered past, Reid said he tries to do homework on such decisions and noted that Tucker served a suspension.

Butker remains on the 53-man active roster. The move arrives three days after he missed field goals from 58 and 45 yards in a 20-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7. He has missed five field goals this year, matching Green Bay's Trey Smack and the New York Giants' Dominic Zvada for the league high. Butker is 11-for-16 on field goal attempts in 2026 and has missed an extra point or field goal in 15 of his last 26 regular season games.

Reid said Butker will likely kick this week and will take the majority of practice repetitions when asked whether Tucker could be ready for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos.

Tucker was also involved in a pregame dispute with Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce before the 2023 AFC Championship Game in Baltimore. Kelce said on New Heights that Tucker broke an unwritten NFL rule by disrupting the Chiefs' warmups with the placement of his helmet and other equipment.

On Wednesday, Mahomes played down the episode. "We have not had a lot of conversations because he was on the Ravens and I was on the Chiefs, but it wasn't like we had any beef or anything," he said, calling it a case of "competitors being competitors" in a high-stakes game. He added that such moments pass and said there was no long-standing feud.

Mahomes said he tries not to get too high or too low about in-season roster additions, and he expressed confidence in general manager Brett Veach. "For me, it's about the Denver Broncos and moving on and continuing to get better because we have a lot of stuff that we have to clean up," he said. Tucker, who is 36 and turns 37 in late November, joins the practice squad ahead of Kansas City's Week 8 matchup with Denver.