NFL Player News

Gano (foot) faces competition from seventh-round pick Harrison Butker ahead of this season, Max Henson of the Panthers' official site reports.

Gano has served as Carolina's kicker since 2012, but last season was the first in which he converted under 80 percent of his field-goal attempts. Coming off January surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot and also entering the final year of his contract, Gano will surely have taken note of the Panthers' selection of Butker, who he'll compete with to keep his job during the offseason program and training camp.

The Panthers selected Butker in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft, 233rd overall.

Butker only made 43 of 60 field-goal attempts at Georgia Tech (71.7 percent), but he only missed two of his 210 career extra points. It's anyone's guess how much of a threat he might be to Graham Gano.

The Browns selected Gonzalez in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft, 224th overall.

Gonzalez was a great college kicker, converting 96 of 116 career field goals. If he wins the Cleveland kicker role, he would seem like a decent bet to stick in the league.

The Bengals selected Elliott in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, 153rd overall.

Elliott being the first kicker off the board comes as a bit of a surprise with many ranking Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez or Auburn's Daniel Carlson ahead of him. Still, the Bengals are clearly sold on Elliott's ability to the point where they felt comfortable spending a mid-round selection on the former Memphis Tiger. He made all 202 of his extra-point attempts in college and hit 21 of 26 field goals last season. He's in line to compete with veteran Randy Bullock for the Bengals' starting kicking job, but given the team's investment in Elliott, we'll presume that the rookie probably has an edge here.

Tavecchio signed a contract with the Raiders on Wednesday.

Tavecchio has spent time with the Packers, Lions and Raiders since 2013, but he's never made an active roster. The signing makes the current offseason the fourth straight that Tavecchio has spent with Oakland. He'll provide competition for Sebastian Janikowski, who will again be the frontrunner for the team's placekicking job.

Santos has signed his restricted free-agent tender to remain with the Chiefs, ESPN's Adam Teicher reports.

Santos has served as Kansas City's kicker since entering the league three years ago. Last season, the Brazilian converted 31 of his 35 field-goal tries and 36 of his 39 extra-point attempts, tying his career high of 129 total points.

Folk will sign with the Buccaneers, Peter Schrager of FOX Sports reports.

Folk converted 27 of 31 field goals in 2016, which is a solid campaign in its own right, but it's especially impressive if you know that three of his four missed attempts were actually blocked. Meanwhile, Roberto Aguayo, for whom the Bucs traded up in the second round of last year's draft, was true on just 22 of 31 attempts in a disappointing campaign. While it's fair to wonder whether Folk's signing was simply a motivational tactic to get the underperforming youngster going, this could turn into an outright competition for the starting job if Aguayo continues to fall short of expectations.

Zuerlein agreed to a three-year deal with the Rams on Tuesday, Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Zuerlein attempted only 22 field goals in 2016 but converted 19 of them and was perfect from inside of 40 yards. The kicker's deal will keep him with the Rams through the 2019 season. At this point, the main thing limiting Zuerlein's fantasy production is the Rams offense, which was last in the league in both yards and points per game last season.

Barth signed a one-year contract extension with the Bears on Friday, Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune reports.

Barth will remain in Chicago for a second season after converting 18 of 23 field-goal attempts (78.3 percent) and 31 of 32 extra-point attempts last year.

Santos received a one-year tender worth $1.797 million from the Chiefs on Thursday, Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star reports.

Consequently, the Chiefs will be able to match any offer Santos receives during 2017 free agency. If the kicker is extended no other competing offers, he would be in line to play the coming season on his tendered contract. Santos was sixth among kickers with 129 points in 2016.