The battle at quarterback in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2023 training camp could have only one winner when it came to the starting lineup, but at least there were multiple spots available on the 53-man roster. Veteran free agent addition Baker Mayfield won that battle, but third-year man Kyle Trask stayed on as Mayfield's primary backup.
Chase McLaughlin and Rodrigo Blankenship had no such safety net when they went head to head to fill the Bucs' vacancy at placekicker. McLaughlin signed with Tampa Bay in March as the presumptive replacement for Ryan Succop, but the team also added Blankenship midway through June to create a camp competition. Coincidentally, McLaughlin and Blankenship had previously been competing teammates with the Colts.
McLaughlin never wavered and the Bucs confirmed him as their choice for 2023 when they released Blankenship between the second and third preseason games in August. McLaughlin proceeded to have a remarkable season, the best of his career to date, but since his original deal with the Buccaneers was for just one year, he is eligible to hit free agency again in March.
McLaughlin is one of 18 players from Tampa Bay's 2023 roster in that position, and it's not likely the team will be able to retain all of them for the 2024 season. Priorities on that list will be set and the Bucs will do their best to keep as much proven talent in the building as possible. And so, in the weeks leading up to the start of the new league year, we are going to look at 10 players who are currently poised to become unrestricted free agents in mid-March. This is the full schedule of our 2024 Free Agent Focus rundown:
- February 14: QB Baker Mayfield
- February 16: S Antoine Winfield Jr.
- February 21: RB Chase Edmonds
- February 23: K Chase McLaughlin
- February 28: WR Mike Evans
- March 1: DL Will Gholston
- March 5: G Aaron Stinnie
- March 6: LB Devin White
- March 7: WR David Moore
- March 8: LB Lavonte David
This list is subject to change based on potential roster moves in the coming weeks. However, we will continue today with the team's leading scorer in 2023 who is coming off a record-setting season.
Player: Chase McLaughlin
Position: Kicker
Age at the Start of the 2024 Season: 28
Experience: Entering sixth NFL season
How Acquired: Signed a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent on March 30, 2023.
Previous Contract(s): An undrafted free agent in 2019, McLaughlin first signed a three-year deal with the Bills in May of that year. He was waived by the Bills at the end of the preseason and subsequently was signed by and waived by the Chargers and 49ers. After being waived by San Francisco, McLaughlin was claimed by the Colts, who inherited the two-year deal he had inked with the 49ers. After being let go by the Colts, he signed a two-year deal with Jacksonville in November of 2020, a contract that later transferred to the Jets and Browns on waiver claims. In April of 2022, McLaughlin joined the Browns on a one-year contract, and he later did the same with the Colts to return to Indy. That deal expired at the end of the 2022 season, after which he signed with the Buccaneers.
Rank in Pro Football Focus **Top 200 NFL Free Agents** for 2023: Not ranked.
2023 Performance: Simply put, McLaughlin put together the best season ever by a kicker in Buccaneers history in 2023.
During the regular season, McLaughlin drilled 29 of his 31 field goal attempts for a success rate of 93.5% that broke the Bucs' single-season record. The only two kicks that McLaughlin missed during the regular season were blocked. Of his 31 three-point tries, eight were from 50 yards away or further, and he drilled seven of them. That included two successful tries from 55 yards and three from 57 yards. Those five field goals of 55 or more yards were not only a new single-season record for the Buccaneers but the most such kicks as a Tampa Bay kicker has made in his career. McLaughlin also made all 33 of his extra point tries.
In two postseason games, McLaughlin made all five of his PATs and four of field goal tries, with his one miss hitting the left upright from 50 yards out in Detroit.
Career Accomplishments: McLaughlin played for six different teams over four seasons before arriving in Tampa. In his first two years in the NFL, 2019 and 2020, he bounced around to teams in need, never staying in one spot for more than five games. However, over the past three seasons he has served as the primary kicker for the Browns, Colts and Buccaneers, respectively.
McLaughlin's long-range prowess with the Buccaneers was not a new development and, in fact, was one of the primary reasons the team targeted him in the offseason. In his career, McLaughlin has now succeeded on 24 of his 29 attempts of 50 or more yards, or 82.8% of the time. That happens to match his overall field goal success rate during the regular season, as he has been true on 96 of 116 tries overall.
On extra points, McLaughlin is 121 of 123 in his career and has only missed once in 91 attempts over the past three seasons. Overall, he has scored 409 points, including a single-season high of 120 in 2023 with the Buccaneers.
Other Potential Free Agent Kickers: Ka'imi Fairbairn (Texans), Wil Lutz (Broncos), Greg Zuerlein (Jets), Nick Folk (Patriots), Greg Joseph (Vikings), Brandon McManus (Jaguars), Joey Slye (Commanders), Randy Bullock (Giants), Cameron Dicker (Chargers)
Top Kicking Prospects in 2024 NFL Draft: Will Reichard (Alabama), Joshua Karty (Stanford), Harrison Meves (Missouri), Jonah Dalmas (Boise State), Cam Little (Arkansas), Griffin Kell (TCU), Brayden Narveson (North Carolina State), Jose Pizano (UNLV)
