The Las Vegas Raiders have made a lot of upgrades this offseason. While they are clearly rebuilding, there’s good reason to believe that this team will be significantly better than they were in 2025, when they won just three games and ended up landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Las Vegas selected Fernando Mendoza with that pick, as it is hoping that he will be able to become its quarterback of the future. He isn’t the only newcomer who could be poised for a big role with the Raiders moving forward, though. One of the team’s undrafted free agents, kicker Kansei Matsuzawa, could very well end up earning the starting job, and he recently opened up on his chances of finding a way to make the team.
Kansei Matsuzawa Dishes on Chances of Making the Raiders Roster
Matsuzawa has taken one of the more improbable paths to finding his way to the NFL. After being born and raised in Japan, Matsuzawa eventually set his sights on becoming a professional football kicker, which led him to play for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at the collegiate level over the past three seasons.
While he didn’t play at all in 2023, Matsuzawa eventually earned a starting role with the team in 2024. It was in 2025, though, when he truly made a name for himself. Matsuzawa hit 27 of his 29 field goal attempts, while also nailing all 40 of his extra point attempts. Those numbers earned him All-American honors and the nickname “The Tokyo Toe,” which is an homage to his Japanese roots.
While he didn’t get selected in the draft, that’s common for kickers, and it didn’t take long for the Raiders to come calling. As of right now, Matt Gay is in line to be the team’s kicker come Week 1, but he is going to have to win the job over Matsuzawa. And while he may face longer odds to crack the team’s roster right away, it sounds like Matsuzawa is confident he can find a way to stick around in Las Vegas.
“I believe [in] myself,” Matsuzawa simply said, per Andrew Greif of NBC News. “I think that’s the only way to become something great.”
Kansei Matsuzawa Aiming to Earn Raiders’ Starting Kicker Gig
GettyLas Vegas Raiders kicker Kansei Matsuzawa.
The Raiders opted to move on from their longtime kicker, Daniel Carlson, this offseason, and while Gay is a veteran with quite a bit of experience, he has been inconsistent throughout his career. If he struggles during training camp, the door will be wide open for Matsuzawa to snatch the starting job right out from underneath his nose.
Even if he doesn’t earn the starting job, though, Matsuzawa could conceivably stick around on the practice squad as an emergency kicker for Las Vegas in the event something were to happen to Gay, or whoever its starter at this spot may be. After a wildly successful 2025 campaign, though, Matsuzawa cannot be counted out when it comes to the Raiders’ starting kicker gig for the upcoming season.
Rookie Kicker ‘Tokyo Toe’ Kansei Matsuzawa Opens Up on His Chances with the Raiders