Adam Vinatieri weighs in on Chiefs kicker battle after helping USAA impact service members in Germany

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has a decision to make ahead of his Week 10 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons: Stick with longtime kicker Harrison Butker, or give the job to Justin Tucker?

Reid said he would "look at everything," but hasn’t made his decision just yet amid Butker’s struggles at the position. Butker leads the NFL in missed field goals (7), and has also led the NFL with 17 total missed kicks (12 field goals and five extra points) since the start of the 2025 season.

Meanwhile, Tucker reportedly had an "off the charts" workout with the team, which led to his signing. However, he was on the bench in Week 9 when Butker missed two consecutive field goal attempts, leading to boos from the crowd. Butker, though, admitted he was "booing himself."

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So, what should the Chiefs do? Pro Football Hall of Famer Adam Vinatieri, regarded as the greatest kicker in league history, spoke with OutKick from Germany on Tuesday after hosting a flag football tournament alongside USAA, the official "Salute to Service" partner of the NFL, at Ramstein Air Base ahead of the Munich game featuring the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions.

After 24 years in the league with four Super Bowl rings, Vinatieri knows a thing or two about one of the highest-pressure positions on the gridiron. So, he viewed the Chiefs’ situation from not just a right-now standpoint, but looking ahead to the future.

"You’d have to see how Justin’s doing as well, right?" he began. "I mean, it’s always an open competition. The way I look at it, even if there’s not another kicker on your team, there’s always somebody out there. There’s 30 guys out there at any given time. It’s Harrison’s job to lose. He’s done a really, really nice job throughout his career. If he can right that ship and get it back, it’s his job, in my opinion. But like you said, as you get closer to playoffs, the margin of error is so much smaller."

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Vinatieri knows how cruel it can be for kickers, and frankly, it’s hard for coaches and organizations to determine what kind of leash that player should have. Butker seems to have earned a longer one, given his own Super Bowl rings under his belt in past seasons.

Then again, missed field goals can be the difference between securing home-field advantage, moving onto the next playoff round, or even winning the Super Bowl.

"Unfortunately for us, you can miss a kick, and if you win by 21 points it doesn’t really matter. It always matters, but if you’re winning big time, you have a little bigger margin for error. As we get to December and into the playoffs, the margin of error shrinks a lot," Vinatieri explained. "Hopefully, [Butker] can figure it out, but you never know.

"If Justin’s kicking well, if they think they need to make a move, maybe they sit [Butker] down and activate Justin at that point."

Ultimately, Vinatieri believes it’s a "pretty fierce competition right now" at Chiefs practice. And Reid has been in his position long enough to know when a change is need, no matter the position.

Either way, signing someone as controversial as Tucker should indicate the Chiefs have an open competition going on, as Vinatieri suggested it to be this week. We’ll find out soon enough who will be handling those duties from Atlanta in Week 10.

Meanwhile, Vinatieri told OutKick he saw some tremendous competition between the service members during the "Salute to Service Flag Football Tournament," which provides USAA and the NFL an opportunity to engage local military in an exclusive experience leading up to the game between the Patriots and Lions at Allianz Arena in Munich.

"You had two branches, too," Vinatieri added. "We had two Air Force teams and two Army teams. So, you want to add another component to the competitiveness? You have Army playing Air Force, then it gets pretty rowdy at that point. There’s definitely some bragging rights.

"There’s a little trash-talking, a little bit of fun jawing and stuff. But once the game was over, everybody was coming together and giving hugs and congratulating each other and stuff like that. It’s fun. We’re all in this together, and I had the opportunity and the privilege to tell them all thank you for being over here, defending our country, and giving us the lifestyle we’re used to."

This event is just one of the many ways USAA leverages its partnership with the NFL to give back to military communities and show appreciation for this continued service, no matter where it may be around the globe.