NFL Player News

Santos is dealing with a groin injury, BJ Kissel of the Chiefs' official site reports.

It's doubtful that the injury will impact Santos' ability for Week 1, but it could keep him out of the preseason opener Friday against the 49ers. If that's the case, the Chiefs may opt to sign a kicker in the short term, but Santos' job wouldn't be in any peril as a result.

The Saints signed kicker Patrick Murray on Sunday to join Lutz on the roster, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports.

Given his strong performance as a rookie, particularly late in the season, Lutz wasn't expected to have serious competition for the job this year. Murray may just be an insurance policy, as Lutz has reportedly looked good at training camp so far, according to Josh Katzenstein of The Times-Picayune. Lutz is still one of the top options at his position.

Prater drilled field goals of 55 and 56 yards during the first half of Friday's mock scrimmage, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Prater also made a 43-yarder, but missed a rushed 55-yard attempt the coaches threw in at the very end of the first half. Despite the miscue, Prater was very impressive all things considered and already appears to be in midseason form. The veteran kicker was a perfect 7-for-7 from beyond 50 yards last season -- only Baltimore's Justin Tucker converted more from that range -- and is firmly entering the 2017 campaign as a fantasy-worthy option at kicker.

Lutz doesn't have any competition at training camp, ESPN.com's Mike Triplett reports.

Lutz made the team as an undrafted rookie last season and converted 28 of 34 field-goal attempts as well as 49 of 50 PATs, with all of the misses coming in the first 10 games. His strong finish to the season convinced the Saints to hand him the job for 2017, making Lutz one of the top fantasy options at his position so long as Drew Brees stays healthy.

Folk, who is battling Roberto Aguayo for the placekicking job, made four of five field-goal attempts at the end of Sunday's practice, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Bucs brought in Folk, a 32-year-old veteran, to give the second-year Aguayo serious competition following Aguayo's uneven rookie campaign. The battle between the two started in OTAs, with Folk seemingly holding a slight edge afterward, but the two kickers were dead even Sunday. A final decision on the victor isn't likely to come until after the Bucs' final preseason game.

McManus has signed his one-year, $2.8 million contract tender with the Broncos, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.

McManus, the most accurate kicker in Broncos history (min. 20 attempts), was previously a restricted free agent who was hesitant to sign his contract offer this offseason in hopes of landing a long-term deal. Considering the Broncos tendered him to a second-round pick, the kicker is clearly a valued member of the team, so it only seems to be a matter of time before he gets his wish.

Koehn has become a legitimate contender for Minnesota's kicking job in challenging Kai Forbath during OTAs, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Koehn is seen having more leg strength than Forbath during OTAs. Forbath is under contract for next season and made all 15 field-goal attempts last season, so he's still a heavy favorite to win the job. However, it sounds like the competition won't just be for show this summer.

Folk drilled all five of his field-goal attempts in Thursday's OTA, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

The veteran kicker has been lights out over this week's OTAs, as he'd also been perfect on four attempts through the much narrower 8.5-foot wide uprights that the Bucs utilized in Tuesday's session. NFL regulation goalposts were utilized Thursday, which seemed to help fellow kicker Roberto Aguayo as well.

Folk went 4-for-4 on field goals from approximately 35-to-40 yards out at Tuesday's OTAs, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

Both Folk and incumbent Roberto Aguayo attempted four kicks apiece at the end of practice into 8.5-foot wide goal posts, which are a full 10 feet narrower than regulation uprights. Notably, Aguayo made only one of the attempts, while Folk was perfect. While it's only one practice in May, Aguayo, who battled accuracy issues as a rookie, likely doesn't have much room for error while competing with a more proven commodity in Folk.

Gano has been medically cleared after undergoing surgery on his heel this offseason, Bryan Strickland of Panthers.com reports. "It's really nice to be able to kick without pain," Gano said Wednesday.

Gano dealt with a nagging injury to a bone in the heel of his plant foot for a large portion of the 2016 campaign, and in Week 14, that very bone snapped in half while he attempted a kickoff. He managed to play through the pain for the remainder of the season, but went just 6-of-9 on field goals during the Panthers' final three games. The veteran kicker ultimately underwent surgery to fix the problem in January, and now that he's back to full heath, he'll need to show there are no lingering effects from the procedure in order to fend off seventh-round draft pick Harrison Butker for a roster spot.