In an offseason largely defined by key veteran departures, new Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta made sure two-time Pro Bowl kicker Justin Tucker wasn’t going anywhere.
The sides agreed to a four-year extension Wednesday that runs through the 2023 season and makes Tucker the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal includes $20 million in new money, which includes $12.5 million fully guaranteed and an $8 million signing bonus. Tucker was already scheduled to make $3.05 million in base salary in 2019, the final season of the four-year, $16.8 million contract he signed in 2016 after receiving Baltimore’s franchise tag.
The most accurate kicker in NFL history at 90.1 percent and the consensus best in the game, Tucker is the first kicker in league history to produce six seasons of 30 or more field goals, illustrating how critical he’s been to Baltimore’s success upon arriving as a rookie free agent in 2012. Tucker also owns 13 career game-winning field goals, which includes his dramatic overtime winner in the 2012 divisional round at Denver. Since 2012, he leads the NFL with 237 field goals made and is second in points (952).
The 29-year-old also owns a record seven games with two or more field goals of 50 or more yards and is 20-for-24 from 50-plus yards since 2016.
Despite missing just the first extra point and first postseason field goal of his career this past year, Tucker was a 2018 first-team All-Pro selection and twice named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month. He went 35-for-39 on field goals with two of the misses being blocked and the other two coming from 53 and 65 yards. The Texas product and Super Bowl XLVII champion also tied his own single-season franchise record with 141 points scored for the third consecutive season.
A fan favorite known for his quirky personality and impressive singing voice, Tucker is the fifth-longest-tenured Raven behind only punter Sam Koch, guard Marshal Yanda, long snapper Morgan Cox, and cornerback Jimmy Smith. That continuity with Koch and Cox — a trio long nicknamed the “Wolfpack” — has given head coach John Harbaugh one of the top special-teams units in the NFL for years now.
