Washington Commanders Want to Win In Clutch Time – Sign K Matt Gay To Fully Guaranteed Deal

The Washington Commanders were the surprise of the NFL season in 2024. It was not only because they turned it around from the second-worst team in the league to making the NFC Championship Game. The way that they won many of these games was also in shocking, buzzer-beater fashion. Today, the Commanders have changed kickers, which could be a more critical position for this team than many others.

Washington Commanders Improve Ability To Win Close Games

The Washington Commanders have signed K Matt Gay to a 1 year, $4.25 million contract. This contract is historic in terms of a kicker. Not only is the contract fully guaranteed but it is the most guaranteed money by year made by a kicker in NFL history. Gay was 31-of-37 on field goal attempts last season and perfect from under 50 yards.

Commanders To Release Kicker Zane Gonzalez

The Washington Commanders have also parted ways with K Zane Gonzalez today. Last season Gonzalez was very good for the Commanders when available but missed 15 games last season due to injury. He had a 71% field goal percentage despite making some clutch kicks. Gonzalez nailed the winning kick in the Commanders shocking 23-20 playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January.

Will Gay Be An Improvement

Gay was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016. He is 31 years old and has an 80% career field goal percentage. I think the top reason why this change was made is his durability. In his eight seasons in the league, Gay has yet to miss a game due to injury. Injury issues tend to pile up in the case of kickers. Likely, the Commanders did not want to test their luck again.

One of the best finishes last year for the Commanders was a last-second Hail Mary attempt due to the injury issues at the kicker position for the Commanders. That situation happened to work out for them last year, but they need to make sure they have a kicker available for all 17 games this season.