Buccaneers Sign Kicker Chase McLaughlin
March 28th, 2023
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles just found the big-leg kicker he was seeking.
Tampa Bay has agreed to terms this afternoon on a one-year deal with free agent kicker Chase McLaughlin, who was the Colts’ full-time kicker last season after holding the same job with the Browns in 2021.
McLaughlin, 27, converted 13-of-16 field goal attemps from 50 yards or more over the past two seasons. He struggled in the 40- to 49-yard range in 2021 but was improved from that distance last season, going 9-of-11.
Overall, McLaughlin converted 100 percent of his extra points and 83.3 percent of his field goal attemps in 2022.
McLaughlin was undrafted out of the University of Illinois in 2019. He made eight NFL stops before landing a top job with Cleveland in 2021. He’ll replace booted Bucs Super Bowl kicker Ryan Succop, who was cut last week.
March 28th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
That’s a great achievement to go 13 of 16 on 50+ yards! Great signing. With a “recovering” offense, having the option to score points from long range is a handy skillset.
March 28th, 2023 at 3:52 pm
He’ll do just fine….and affordable, I’m sure.
March 28th, 2023 at 3:54 pm
I’ll say it again…
Relying on a kicker to win games is a losing strategy.
FG<TD
March 28th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Hes only missed 4 50+ yards in his career but 14 less than 50 yards in his career.
March 28th, 2023 at 3:56 pm
Nothing against this guy personally, but downgrading to this guy from Succop was idiotic. Why Bowles is so fixated on needing to kick from beyond 50 is beyond me when we were so successful kicking from 49 and under. Our focus is in the wrong place clearly
March 28th, 2023 at 3:56 pm
Wow superbowl huh
March 28th, 2023 at 3:58 pm
If you don’t kick FG when you do not score TD’s you do have a better chance at losing the game. 1 TD is a loss against 3 50+ FG.
March 28th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
Gp, kicking FGs might be a losing strategy. But it’s nice to have the ability if you need it.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:01 pm
This is a solid signing. Experienced Kicker with a Strong leg. Does he kick off too?
March 28th, 2023 at 4:04 pm
Deadrin Senat back as well
March 28th, 2023 at 4:04 pm
He still has to beat out Jake Verity. I also wouldn’t rule out drafting a kicker or getting a UDFA.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
I’m not sure I get the logic here but okay?
March 28th, 2023 at 4:12 pm
Bowles must play fantasy football. Those 50+ yard field goals are worth a lot
March 28th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Prediction…he’ll make all but one 50+ FG.
But he’ll miss a bunch that are 50-.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
If he was actually any good, he would not be going to different teams each year.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:18 pm
Those brushing off the 50 yard stuff must not remember all the times we had to punt from the 35 because we couldn’t trust succop.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:18 pm
Sounds like the Bucs are pre-planning to have even MORE drives fail by the 40-yard line this year vs. last year.
As gp alluded to, reliance on long field goals is foolhardy. I’d rather them worry about how to fix our O-line and consistently matriculate down the field.
Anyhoo, we shall see. This dude definitely has a stronger leg than Succop, so there’s that, and it is nice to have a fighting chance at a long FG than no chance at all.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:23 pm
PS: Not missing extra points might be more valuable to team morale than the ability to kick 50 yard FG’s.
Just as Bowle’s recently lamented the fact that having Brady the last 3 years, he thought, meant that the team as a whole didn’t elevate their own game, instead relying on Mr. Heroic to bail them out…if the offense sputters at mid-field, having a long range kicker might be similar. “Oh, I missed my block and we didn’t get a first down. No biggee, our kicker will bail us out.”
March 28th, 2023 at 4:26 pm
It’s a double edged sword and hard to blame either choice
March 28th, 2023 at 4:31 pm
Bowles wants 55 yarders
March 28th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
Good signing. Gotta build and scout these guys on short contracts when you have no money. So many haters that constantly post on JBF and call themselves fans need to recognize it takes time in FA and draft with the large lack of money we have.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:40 pm
Just kick the ball out the back of the end zone, and make most everything from inside 40. Bowles should adopt the nerd strategy and go for it every 4th and short. These long field goals are foolish. Can’t remember how many times I saw teams line up in goal line and pitch it to a quick back on 4th and short. Only more proof that Bowles is living in dinosaur times.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:49 pm
I’d personally rather have a kicker that can give us a chance from 45 yards or more out, than have one that we know has limited range from 40 yards out or more. Some of y’all dislike Bowles so much, you get on here and say some weird, illogical sh*t and it’s almost tragic. Being prepared for certain scenarios is a thing, I’d rather have a kicker that gives me confidence from long range than on the squad, than a kicker I have NO confidence in from long range.
March 28th, 2023 at 4:51 pm
Speaking for Pablo
“Pablo must say, Pabo is bummed……What happened to names like Roberto, Cairo, Jose & Automatica? Pablo’s Bucs have names like Chase, Connor…..and others like Cam, Baker, Cade & Ko. and….no Nacho!!!”
March 28th, 2023 at 4:55 pm
you guys ever heard of having a guy with a big leg when you need him to tie or win a game late? or overtime?
or at the end of the half?
Geez.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Sounds good. We will need a long range kicker.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
GP – I’ll say it again, ignoring the kicking game is only for idiots who don’ understand football. Is that what you are?
You know, those little things called “points”, that get added up on the scoreboard during every game, and the team with more of those little thingys wins.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
I agree with the side that this was a foolish move. Succup was money inside the 45 n lower. If you attempting longer field goals you have bigger issues. Personally I don’t like TBs strategy here.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:16 pm
I understand people’s fright over dumping Succop. Everyone is still recovering from the PTSD of the revolving door at kicker for a number of years. Nothing says that has to happen again. Now we have 2 kickers on the roster to compete and I wouldn’t be surprised if they added a 3rd. We ought to be able to do better than Succop, and we simply needed the cap space to sign other pieces.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:21 pm
He lost his job to Matt Gay… funny how things work.
But for this guy, I just figured he’d be a veteran minimum type of guy and you bring in competition. But I’m hearing he might have gotten decent kicker money? Humm. I don’t know about that.
They should bring back Roberto too and let him compete, if he still wants to do it. No idea what happened to him mentally, but you’d think he should be fixed by now.
Also they should be scouting the XFL and USFL for kickers. If they’re any good there, they should be just as good in the NFL.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:23 pm
Love it. He has a leg 9 of 12 from over 50. Is accurate and young!
March 28th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Roberto is either a UPS driver or a bi-lingual Insurance Claims Adjuster.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Half a loaf is better than none.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Duane, while I’ll certainly admit the kicking game has importance, only a moron wouldn’t acknowledge that the league is phasing out the kicking game and special teams as a whole. Did you not see the rule changes proposed at the owners meetings? It’s bygone thinking from a bygone era. Yes, place kicking is still important. But it’s been incredibly marginalized. Give me a team who can get a 4th and short over a 53 yard field goal any day
March 28th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Succop was a salary cap casualty folks.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Donald Igwebuike never missed a FG with the Bucs inside of 37 yards. Plus he had range up to about 53 yards at a time when that was a huge deal.
He lost his job to Steve Christie, who is one of the better kickers in NFL history, who the Bucs lost to Buffalo because the Bucs had a handshake deal with Christie that they’d expose him as a free agent, somehow it saved the owners a few dollars, but the Bucs promised they’d get him resigned on a min wage deal. Instead, Christie stabbed the Bucs in the back and took, I believe, double the money to go play in Buffalo to replace ‘Scud’ Norwood who lost the SB.
All the ‘Glazers are cheap’ morons, you know they’re all bandwagon riders who didn’t live through the Culverhouse years. The Bucs could have had a kicker for 15-years, that would have taken them from Ray Perkins to the Gruden era, but instead they tried to save like $70k.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
How much are they paying him?
March 28th, 2023 at 5:29 pm
Tampabaybucfan Says:
March 28th, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Roberto is either a UPS driver or a bi-lingual Insurance Claims Adjuster.
———-
Probably. But kickers don’t forget how to kick, and now that Chris Baker is long gone, maybe he’ll be able to kick again. Kickers are good well into their 30s, and I’m surprised more aren’t pulled off the shelf, in particular young guys who flaked out, as that’s normally all mental, and simply getting older can often fix those issues.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
His career field goal percentage is 78% which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. But yes, he’s good on the long ones. I am of the mind like some others that he will compete for the kicking job. Obviously depends on what they’re paying him however.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:42 pm
Those “big leg” kickers always work great around here….
March 28th, 2023 at 5:43 pm
“Give me a team who can get a 4th and short over a 53 yard field goal any day“
You can be 1 team and definitely be capable of both. This is football, everything doesn’t boil down to “this or that” and the amount of scenarios effected by down, distance, and probablity makes having a K with a broader range bumps up your success rates in scoring point. You’d think after watching this team struggle to score from week to week, it wouldn’t take too much to see the value in somebody who costs less and can kick further than 36 year old Ryan Succop. Also, converting a 4th and short from your own 45 doesn’t effect the scoreboard the same way a kick from our opponents 42 yard line would. You’re talking about keeping the change, this move is about raise our scoring possibility from further out and you guys are STILL tryna spin it like it’s a “bad” thing cause “Blame Bowles” lmao
March 28th, 2023 at 5:48 pm
For those pining for Succop you think with another year under his belt his range will improve?
March 28th, 2023 at 5:50 pm
Probably draft a kicker also just hope its not in first six rounds.
March 28th, 2023 at 5:56 pm
I agree they draft a kicker late to compete
March 28th, 2023 at 5:59 pm
With kickers you never know what you are going to get. The guy sounds like he is not good inside the 50. Another big leg kicker with accuracy issues? Time will tell…
March 28th, 2023 at 6:13 pm
@Letsbucinggo – Your comment about him missing only 4 beyond 50 and 14 under 49 is simply the number of kicks in each area ! He kicked 4 times as many inside 49 then he did outside of 50 so of course he would have more missed… I think 🤔 it’s a good pickup , WAY better than going with a rookie !! Go Bucs
March 28th, 2023 at 6:14 pm
guys we got 2 kicker to compete let the games begin.. stop thinking superbowl or bust.. brady is gone.. we have to find cheap solution and create comp amongst players. trask vs mayfield and these kicker vs each other..
we need to save the pics for more important things..
being oline and dline…from there safety and corner.
it be nice to land a great tight end who can do a little bit of everything.
Next year we will get are qb of the future and know if these 2 guys have it or not.
This year will compete due to a week conference but all in all were not built to win it all.
March 28th, 2023 at 6:17 pm
I agree with the take that attempting long FGS is going the way of the dinosaur. As it should. The ONLY time to attempt a 50 plus FG is if it is about 4th and 40 or time related i.e. near the very end of the game/half. There are DOZENS of studies and analytics that support the EV of return of points Vs field position of missed FG etc. I respect the Andy Reid’s and younger head coaches that are using these stats and going for it. Statistics don’t lie in this case. But Bowles is a conservative dinosaur and will be continually outcoached.
Remember early when Texas Hold ‘em got popular and old dinosaurs were saying, you can only play about 13ish starting hands, now look at it. Same thing. Look at the math, it makes sense to go for it. Also, this kicker is not going to be the answer since he misses the “gimmees”. Oh well, we have bigger areas of concern on this roster.
March 28th, 2023 at 6:43 pm
Wonder if playing indoors factored into his accuracy.
March 28th, 2023 at 6:48 pm
The “McLaughlin Group” lives. Good signing.
March 28th, 2023 at 7:02 pm
At least we didn’t spend more draft picks on a kicker.
March 28th, 2023 at 7:02 pm
The great thing with this signing is Jason Licht will hopefully not draft another kicker. Drafting kickers has been dreadful!
March 28th, 2023 at 7:22 pm
Potentially great signing (even experienced kickers scare me). We just got 10 years younger at the position, got a ‘bigger’ leg, and almost surely saved $$$ in the process. He’s outstanding out to 40 yards, then meh in the 40-49 range, but superb again in the 50 plus range. Also excellent at XPs & does kick-offs. Let’s keep open minds & see what we’ve got.
March 28th, 2023 at 9:05 pm
Eight teams? Yikes!
March 28th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
Redeemer – there are no rules under active consideration to end the kicking game in 2023, and it is extremely unlikely that the NFL will terminate the kicking game, ever. It’s a one year contract.
March 28th, 2023 at 9:45 pm
The kicking position as a whole in the NFL is one big game of musical chairs. If the one you have sucks, you rinse your hands, grab another one, and see if that one can do it.
March 28th, 2023 at 9:55 pm
Like said above kickers are like musical chairs..there is about a dozen that are slightly more consisitent and about 30 more out there who go thru great seasons and slump seasons. Look at how well Nick Folk has been kicking the past couple yearsand he was in a 2 to 3 year slump before that. Matt gay,,etc
March 28th, 2023 at 10:26 pm
“Scoring FGs is a losing strategy” is about the dumbest thing I’ve heard.
You know what’s a losing strategy? Punting when you could have kicked a FG on 4th down in the area of the field where the opponent gets good field position if the offense doesn’t convert that down. We have a better than average defense, why would you roll the dice on 4th down in no-man’s land?
Newsflash, football strategy involves the defense, field position, and special teams. It’s not all about the offense. Especially when the QB isn’t named Tom Brady.
March 29th, 2023 at 12:20 am
Relying on a kicker to win games is a losing strategy.
FG<TD
******“Scoring FGs is a losing strategy”************
Reading comprehension
If you fail at that (not just you lambchop) how can you claim to know just about anything else?
Football is about strategy.
If your strategy is about scoring field goals as opposed to having an offense that scores touchdowns…. You will lose more than you win.
It's really very simple.
March 29th, 2023 at 1:58 am
Hopefully, not another dome kicker.
March 29th, 2023 at 2:49 am
Finding a decent replacement for Succop was not that hard.
March 29th, 2023 at 7:23 am
For what it’s worth, I am good friends with a Colt’s fan and I asked about the overall feel of McLaughlin. He says before Gay’s release he thought the Colts would be signing him to a long term deal. This is a good signing for us.
We’ve gotten too caught up with our little curse here in Tampa, that started around the time we moved on from Connor Barth around 2015. Sadly, we’ve actually had a couple of top 10 kickers come through OneBuc and fail to keep their job. We had Nick Folk…since leaving us, he’s been solid, he was a top 10 kicker for the Patriots going into the 2022 season, and we all know that Matt Guy became a stud. I think it’s ok we moved on from Succup, everyone take a breath. We’ll be fine kicking this year.
March 29th, 2023 at 9:20 am
@gp: you don’t “rely” on a kicker to win games except in rare situations. You rely on the talent of every player on the team to win games. And that includes an effective kicker.
What this team needs is to jettison Armstrong. Funny how he’s been the one consistent coach in years of kicker mediocrity.
March 29th, 2023 at 10:28 am
^^^^Agreed^^^^^
March 29th, 2023 at 11:13 am
Duane Says:
March 28th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
GP – I’ll say it again, ignoring the kicking game is only for idiots who don’ understand football. Is that what you are?
You know, those little things called “points”, that get added up on the scoreboard during every game, and the team with more of those little thingys wins.
*************************************************************
FG<TD
Three is less than seven
Does that make it easier for you to understand?
March 29th, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Bloweszo wants long field goals. Maybe he thinks the NFL will make a 50+ yarder worth 4 points.
How many stooges were there again?
March 29th, 2023 at 2:23 pm
@gp,
You’re going to go for TDs on 4th down? I know what you meant and it’s stupid. We don’t have Tom Brady. Even with Brady, how many times did the offense stall out?
You need a kicker who can kick 50+ yards when you don’t have a dynamic offense.
Wake up from your wet dream.
March 29th, 2023 at 2:26 pm
@gp,
One last thing, name me any sports team in any league that doesn’t like to score points. Thanks, Captain Obvious.
March 29th, 2023 at 3:13 pm
You need a kicker who can kick 50+ yards when you don’t have a dynamic offense.
********************************************************
Teams that can’t field a “dynamic offense” do tend towards relying on long distance field goals.
They also tend to lose more than they win
So simple
SMH
March 29th, 2023 at 5:13 pm
Bloweszo tends to lose more than he wins, so there is symmetry.
March 30th, 2023 at 3:51 am
Man this is truly hard to believe!
We got more holes in our team than my sandwich’s Swiss cheese slice and we create a hole at kicker? …When we finally had a dependable one? …Supposedly to save cap space? Which BTW I ain’t buying for a milisecond!
March 30th, 2023 at 3:57 am
Bowles contines to do all things neccessary to make sure he has excusses for his teams failures. Does anyone here truly believe that the kicker was the problem last year?
April 3rd, 2023 at 10:52 am
Kicks of 50+ should be rare if your offense is worth Lick. Kicking from a dry rug and moist grass is a Big Difference. Don’t expect much from this guy.