After threatening to leave the Baltimore Ravens next year via free agency if forced to play the 2016 season under the franchise tag, kicker Justin Tucker just agreed to sign a four-year, $16.8 million deal that includes $10.8 million guaranteed, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
With Friday being the deadline in the NFL for players who were issued franchise tags this offseason to sign long-term deals, the Ravens and Tucker came to terms with just a few hours to spare. The former undrafted free agent out of Texas will now presumably be the Ravens kicker for the foreseeable future. The franchise tag for kickers this season was $4.5 million.
Tucker has converted 87.8 percent of his career field goals with the Ravens. However, he is coming off the roughest season of his four-year career in Baltimore, converting a personal-low 82.5 percent of his field goals in 2015.
In the nine total games, including the playoffs, that Tucker has kicked against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he has made 25 of his 26 field goal attempts and all 16 of his extra point tries. His lone miss against the Steelers came from 41 yards out in the first of two meetings between the two teams in 2012, his rookie season.
While the Ravens will move forward with a very reliable, yet expensive, kicker in Tucker, the Steelers are poised to enter the 2016 with second-year kicker Chris Boswell, who the team signed last year off of the street ahead of their Week 5 game against the San Diego Chargers. Boswell was magnificent in 2015 and while his current contract will expire after the 2016 season, the Steelers will be able to easily retain him with very modest salaries the following two seasons should they ultimately deem it necessary.
