CINCINNATI — Evan McPherson had his best practice of training camp Monday, even if he didn’t realize it at the time.
While McPherson and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals were going through a shorter, special teams-heavy practice, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker was signing a four-year, $25.6 million contract.
The deal makes Butker the league’s highest-paid kicker in terms of average annual salary ($6.4 million), while his $17.8 million in guaranteed money also sets a new bar for kickers.
And every bit of it increases McPherson’s value as negotiations continue between the 2021 fifth-round pick and the Bengals.
Bengals’ Evan McPherson Touts Clutch Gene as Negotiations Continue
McPherson found out about Butker’s new deal when a group of reporters crowded around his locker after practice.
“That guy deserves it all,” McPherson said. “That guy is so good. He’s super consistent with his ball striking. He does well under pressure. I mean, they wouldn’t have won the game last year against us when he had six field goals. Those conditions that we played in last year in Kansas City, I mean, nobody really understands how hard those kicks were that he made.
“So whatever he got — I don’t know what he got; Somebody’s probably about to tell me — but I think he deserves it.”
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McPherson, of course, thinks he deserves a contract in the same neighborhood. Since entering the league, no one has more field goals of 50+ yards than his 21.
Since the 1970 merger, no kicker has more field goals of 50+ yards in his first three seasons than McPherson. Blair Walsh is second with 17 and Justin Tucker is a distant third with 14.
McPherson’s success rate on those long attempts is 75%, which is tied for seventh best since 2021.
He’s made seven consecutive 50+ field goals in the fourth quarter, and he was 9 of 9 on all fourth-quarter kicks in 2023. McPherson’s made 12 of his last 13 in the quarter overall, with the lone miss coming in the blustery, frigid Christmas Eve game in New England in Week 15 of 2022.
“I would say as a kicker, that’s something that you really try to hone in — your clutch ability,” he said. “Because you want to be there for the guys. They get they play a long football game, and for a game to come down to my leg, you don’t want to miss and all that hard work that they put in was for nothing. So I feel like the clutch kicks as a kicker is what you get paid for.”
Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons has repeatedly discussed McPherson’s ability to calm his heart rate and deliver when it matters most, and head coach Zac Taylor touched on it last week.
A favorite Draft moment of Zac's? Drafting @McPherson_Evan pic.twitter.com/ZjBuYkCWYy
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) April 22, 2024
“He’s a great weapon,” Taylor said. “I have a ton of confidence in him. Our team has a lot of confidence in him. He’s come through clutch for us and really big moments.
“You’ve seen what the variety of kicks we’ve attempted with them,” Taylor continued. “That speaks to the confidence. He’s a big part of a team.”
While speaking at the pre-camp luncheon, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said a McPherson extension could come before the interview ended before extending the list of possibilities to 10 years from now.
McPherson confirmed both sides are working toward an agreement.
“We’re just still grinding everything out, and we’ll see if we can get something done,” he said.
While the leapfrog nature of contracts at other positions is in play with kickers, the edging ahead of the previous leader is minuscule. The kicker contracts are almost templates. McPherson can expect a deal in the four-year range with an AAV of around $5-6 million.
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The guaranteed money, which is always the sticking point with the Bengals, could be what’s holding up an agreement.
But McPherson denied the wait has been trying.
“It’s not frustrating,” he said. “If it happens right now, great, I’m happy. But if it doesn’t, I’m even more happy. I’m just gonna go out there and perform the same either way.
“It’s some unneeded stress to worry about that because at the end of the day, if I perform how I’m supposed to, it’ll get done,” he continued. “I believe that. If I just keep my head down, keep playing, something will come up eventually.”
As sure as he is it will happen at some point, McPherson sounded less confident it will happen before the start of the regular season.
“I cannot confirm notrdeny what will transpire, because truly I’m not certain,” he said.
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