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Ka'imi Fairbairn

Standout kicker headed for free agency

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)
PlayerFGFGAPct
Ka'imi Fairbairn565994.9%
Cameron Dicker525594.5%
Cairo Santos566191.8%
Dustin Hopkins424691.3%
Nick Folk616791.0%
Jake Elliott505590.9%
Eddy Pineiro586490.6%
Daniel Carlson606789.6%
Chase McLaughlin596788.1%
Jason Myers697987.3%
Riley Patterson465386.8%
Greg Zuerlein657586.7%
Younghoe Koo647486.5%
Harrison Butker515986.4%
Justin Tucker698086.3%
Matt Prater505886.2%
Matt Gay617185.9%
Tyler Bass516085.0%
Brett Maher465583.6%
Evan McPherson506083.3%
Jason Sanders506083.3%
Chris Boswell495983.1%
Graham Gano404981.6%
Wil Lutz536581.5%
Joey Slye445481.5%
Brandon McManus587379.5%
Greg Joseph506379.4%

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)
PlayerFGFGAPct
Chris Boswell2226.846
Daniel Carlson2227.815
Chase McLaughlin2126.808
Graham Gano2329.793
Ka'imi Fairbairn1924.792
Jake Elliott1722.773
Harrison Butker1925.760
Evan McPherson2128.750
Younghoe Koo2230.733
Nick Folk1622.727
Cairo Santos1318.722
Matt Gay2028.714
Jason Myers1521.714
Matt Prater2738.711
Dustin Hopkins1217.706
Mason Crosby914.643
Justin Tucker1930.633
Brett Maher1219.632
Tyler Bass1219.632
Jason Sanders1728.607
Brandon McManus2847.596
Greg Joseph1526.577
Joey Slye1221.571
Wil Lutz814.571
Greg Zuerlein1631.516

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

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