The Las Vegas Raiders dominated the opening day of free agency yesterday, spending a boatload of money to acquire some significant players. Acquisitions were made up and down the roster, but one that’s been largely overlooked is the signing of kicker Matt Gay as the team is apparently moving on from veteran Daniel Carlson. The move was reported by Ryan McFadden of ESPN, along with multiple other outlets.
While the decision to move on from Carlson wasn’t especially surprising, this particular signing was. Carlson’s kicking percentages and leg strength have been slowly declining for the last few seasons, and having a kicker with a big leg will be important if the team is going to rely on a rookie quarterback, which appears to be the case right now.
According to McFadden, GM John Spytek and the new coaching staff informed Carlson that they would be moving on from him now that the kicker is an unrestricted free agent.
But Gay seems like an odd choice. He had a 73.9 field goal percentage last year while appearing in 13 games for the Washington Commanders and four for the San Francisco 49ers. He was 26-for-26 in extra points, so that checks a necessary box, but Gay was just 4-for-9 from over 50 yards with a long of 56, so he doesn’t exactly sound like the big leg the Raiders need.
Based on that, this is likely a placeholder move, with the Raiders drafting a kicker, and the team could add another free agent to provide increased competition. Decent kickers are almost always available on an ongoing basis, and last year’s failure often turns out to be this year’s success story.
The Raiders were also a mess on special teams last season. Special teams coach Tom McMahon is a respected figure around the league, but he was fired in midseason by former coach Pete Carroll after a disastrous game in which a blocked punt and a late field-goal miss by Carlson cost the team a win against the Denver Broncos.
The new special teams coach is Joe DeCamillis, another veteran coach who’s returning to the NFL after spending the last two seasons in the college ranks with the South Carolina Gamecocks, where he was assistant head coach/special teams coordinator. DeCamillis won the Frank Broyles Award as the special teams coach of the year for his work with the Gamecocks, hence the attraction, but the timing of this move still feels strange.