Ka’imi Fairbairn is headed for free agency, and I think he’ll generate some interest. He’s just a kicker, but he’s a lot better than any of the other options that are available.
Matt Gay signed a four-year deal worth $22.5 million, and Fairbairn is better and in a more favorable market (with the salary cap rising by $31 million per team).
Fairbairn has been particularly good recently. He missed only one field goal last year and missed only 2 field goals the previous season. That puts him at a league-best 95 percent since 2022, so I imagine the Texans will make every effort to keep him around.
FIELD GOAL ACCURACY (last 2 yrs) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Player | FG | FGA | Pct |
Ka'imi Fairbairn | 56 | 59 | 94.9% |
Cameron Dicker | 52 | 55 | 94.5% |
Cairo Santos | 56 | 61 | 91.8% |
Dustin Hopkins | 42 | 46 | 91.3% |
Nick Folk | 61 | 67 | 91.0% |
Jake Elliott | 50 | 55 | 90.9% |
Eddy Pineiro | 58 | 64 | 90.6% |
Daniel Carlson | 60 | 67 | 89.6% |
Chase McLaughlin | 59 | 67 | 88.1% |
Jason Myers | 69 | 79 | 87.3% |
Riley Patterson | 46 | 53 | 86.8% |
Greg Zuerlein | 65 | 75 | 86.7% |
Younghoe Koo | 64 | 74 | 86.5% |
Harrison Butker | 51 | 59 | 86.4% |
Justin Tucker | 69 | 80 | 86.3% |
Matt Prater | 50 | 58 | 86.2% |
Matt Gay | 61 | 71 | 85.9% |
Tyler Bass | 51 | 60 | 85.0% |
Brett Maher | 46 | 55 | 83.6% |
Evan McPherson | 50 | 60 | 83.3% |
Jason Sanders | 50 | 60 | 83.3% |
Chris Boswell | 49 | 59 | 83.1% |
Graham Gano | 40 | 49 | 81.6% |
Wil Lutz | 53 | 65 | 81.5% |
Joey Slye | 44 | 54 | 81.5% |
Brandon McManus | 58 | 73 | 79.5% |
Greg Joseph | 50 | 63 | 79.4% |
Fairbairn can make the longer kicks. He’s converted 19 of his last 24 attempts from 50-plus yards. Among kickers who’ve attempted more than 10 such kicks over the last four years, only four have been more accurate.
50-PLUS FIELD GOALS (last 4 yrs) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Player | FG | FGA | Pct |
Chris Boswell | 22 | 26 | .846 |
Daniel Carlson | 22 | 27 | .815 |
Chase McLaughlin | 21 | 26 | .808 |
Graham Gano | 23 | 29 | .793 |
Ka'imi Fairbairn | 19 | 24 | .792 |
Jake Elliott | 17 | 22 | .773 |
Harrison Butker | 19 | 25 | .760 |
Evan McPherson | 21 | 28 | .750 |
Younghoe Koo | 22 | 30 | .733 |
Nick Folk | 16 | 22 | .727 |
Cairo Santos | 13 | 18 | .722 |
Matt Gay | 20 | 28 | .714 |
Jason Myers | 15 | 21 | .714 |
Matt Prater | 27 | 38 | .711 |
Dustin Hopkins | 12 | 17 | .706 |
Mason Crosby | 9 | 14 | .643 |
Justin Tucker | 19 | 30 | .633 |
Brett Maher | 12 | 19 | .632 |
Tyler Bass | 12 | 19 | .632 |
Jason Sanders | 17 | 28 | .607 |
Brandon McManus | 28 | 47 | .596 |
Greg Joseph | 15 | 26 | .577 |
Joey Slye | 12 | 21 | .571 |
Wil Lutz | 8 | 14 | .571 |
Greg Zuerlein | 16 | 31 | .516 |
It should all add up to a nice contract. If the Texans don’t want to re-sign him, I’m sure some other team will be happy to have him.
Assuming Fairbairn is back with Houston, I expect he’ll be one of the top half dozen kickers on my board this summer.
—Ian Allan