Andy Reid did not decide Harrison Butker's future on Sunday night, and the Chiefs left the stadium with the kicking issue unresolved after a 35-12 win over the Jets. Butker missed a 51-yard field goal after already getting a mulligan on a missed 56-yarder, turning a routine postgame question into the most immediate concern around the team.
That is why the search is sharp today: the miss came in a game the Chiefs controlled, yet the kicking question did not go away with the final score. Reid said, "I'm not making any decisions right now today," and added that he will address Butker's situation as the week goes on while looking at everything before deciding anything. That leaves the Chiefs with a choice that is simple in structure but hard in consequence: keep going with Butker, or move toward another option already available on the practice squad.
Butker's own answer was not defiant so much as matter-of-fact. He said he has tried to be his best on every single kick, but those 50-plus-yarders are not going in. He also said he feels confident, is excited for the kicks, and just has to do better. After 10 seasons with the Chiefs, he said they know what he can be and that he is thankful to be here, thankful to be in this position, and still loves kicking footballs. "I just have to make them go in," he said.
The friction is hard to ignore. Butker has now missed eight kicks this year, and the Chiefs added Justin Tucker to the practice squad less than two weeks ago. That does not force a move by itself, but it gives the team a live alternative if Reid decides the week should end with a change. Tucker has not been on a 53-man roster since the end of the 2024 season, and he accepted a 10-game suspension after denying misconduct allegations made by multiple women in early 2025.
For now, the Chiefs are where Reid said they were: no decision today, more looking as the week goes on. The next snap in this story will not be a play on the field. It will be whether Reid keeps waiting, or whether the miss that followed a 56-yard reprieve finally pushes Kansas City to make a field goal move of its own.
