Ex-Steelers Kicker Gets ‘Another Chance’; 2 Former 2nd-Round Picks Elevated

Getty Images Matthew Wright (No. 16) of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 3, 2021.

On Saturday Oct. 1 the Kansas City Chiefs promoted Matthew Wright from the practice squad, giving the former Pittsburgh Steelers placekicker the chance to rescue yet another team from a kicking crisis. Kansas City has been unsettled at the position all season, having lost their starting kicker, Harrison Butker, to an ankle injury in Week 1. Since then the Chiefs have utilized emergency replacement Justin Reid, as well as Matt Ammendola, the latter of whom missed a short field goal and an extra-point in a Week 3 loss to Indianapolis.

Enter Matthew Wright, who signed to Kansas City’s practice squad earlier this week, and now gets “another chance” to show what he can do. The Chiefs will be the third NFL team for which he has kicked in a regular-season game, and while he excelled in both of his earlier opportunities, he has yet to lock down a full-time placekicking job.

Matthew Wright Helped Jacksonville Snap Its 20-Game Losing Streak in 2021

Wright got his first NFL opportunity in 2019, when he engaged in a training camp competition with Chris Boswell. Rightly, the Steelers chose to stick with Boswell, but the Central Florida product made an impression by converting 5 of 6 field goal attempts during the preseason. He returned to the Steelers in Nov. 2020, signing to the practice squad before making his NFL debut against Washington a week later, while Boswell was nursing a hip injury. All told, he appeared in three games for the Steelers that season, converting 4 of 4 field goals and all 7 of his extra-point attempts.

In Jan. 2021 Wright inked a one-year reserve/futures deal with the Lions following a visit to Detroit, but he was waived during training camp. That opened the door for him to replace Josh Lambo of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had missed all 3 of his field goal attempts and 2 of 7 extra-point attempts in early-season action.

Again he thrived under pressure, converting 21 of 24 field goal attempts and 13 of 15 extra-point attempts in 14 games with the Jaguars. Most notably, his late game heroics allowed Jacksonville to snap its 20-game losing streak with a 23-20 victory over the Dolphins in London.

Yet still no full-time NFL job, as the Jaguars waived him in May 2022 in what was then described as a “surprise move.”

Sunday night’s road game against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be his first opportunity since his long stint with the Jags last year, though he did have a tryout with the Carolina Panthers in August.

Of course, Wright’s signing and subsequent promotion reunites him with former teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster, who signed a one-year contract with the Chiefs in the offseason. To date, Smith-Schuster has been targeted 19 times by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and has caught 14 passes for 178 yards, an average of 12.7 yards per reception, production somewhat comparable to his only Pro Bowl season, which came in 2018.

Steelers Elevate 2 Former 2nd-Round Picks

Meanwhile, the Steelers made a couple roster moves of their own on Saturday, elevating a pair of defenders — cornerback Josh Jackson and linebacker Ryan Anderson — from the practice squad to the active/inactive roster. Both Jackson and Anderson are former 2nd-round draft picks — of Green Bay and Washington, respectively.

Jackson signed to Pittsburgh’s practice squad on Sept. 5. Ryan Anderson joined the practice squad on Sept. 13, 2022.