Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker would have made NFL history officially on Saturday night had it not been the preseason.
Butker hit a 69-yard field goal during a 16-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and his kick would have topped the NFL record in the regular season. That record belongs to Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little, who made a 68-yard field goal in 2025.
Ironically, Butker wasn’t as great from closer range with, missing an extra point and a 43-yard field goal. However, Butker has shown promise this preseason with field goals of 58 yards and 59 yards in Week 1 of the preseason against the Los Angeles Rams.
Butker has been one of the league’s better kickers, and he has been part of the Chiefs’ three Super Bowl wins in the 2020s. He has a field goal percentage of 88.4% and an extra point percentage of 93.9% in his career.
His longest official field goal was 62 yards during the 2022 season. That one didn’t come easy as he drilled it into the wind but straight between the uprights.
Butker only went 16-19 on field goals last season, a career, so he looks to get back on track after a down year.
Andy Reid Addresses Harrison Butker’s Misses
Butker’s misses on Saturday could raise concern, as the Chiefs will need special teams to click this year. That said, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid backed Butker despite the mistakes.
“I trust him. That happens. He’ll learn from it and move on. He’s made enough of the big ones for us,” Reid told reporters via AtoZ Sports’ Charles Goldman. “He’s just got to make it. He’ll make an adjustment there.”
A former seventh-round pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2017, Butker has been a steady performer for the Chiefs his whole career. Carolina waived him before the 2017 season, and the Chiefs picked him up and made him the kicker going forward.
He hit 38 of 42 field goals as a rookie and a perfect 28-28 on extra points. That ended up being his best season for field goals made, but he has eclipsed 30 two other times in his career.
Butker has made at least more than 20 field goals in all but two seasons of his career. He has hit many game-winning field goals along the way, including a 27-yard game -winner over the Indianapolis Colts last season, and he has hit clutch field goals in the postseason.
Notable postseason field goals include game-tying field goals in AFC championship games to force overtime in 2018 and 2021. He also hit a game-winner in the 2023 AFC Championship Game and then a game-winner in the Super Bowl that same season. His latest postseason clutch moment came a year later when he tied the San Francisco 49ers to force overtime in the Super Bowl.
Chiefs Are Paying a Premium For Harrison Butker
Kanas City is paying a high price for Butker, as he his the third-highest-paid kicker in the league at $25.6 million. Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey and Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell signed contract extensions this year of $28 million each.
Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Makes Unofficial NFL History vs. Buccaneers