As expected, after being released by the Colts recently, veteran Matt Gay has landed safely on his kicker’s foot.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Washington Commanders have signed former Indianapolis Colts placekicker Matt Gay to a one-year deal, with $4.25 million guaranteed, and worth up to a total of $5 million with extra incentives:
Veteran kicker Matt Gay is signing with the #Commanders on a one-year deal worth over $4.25 million fully guaranteed, per agents @davidcanter and @NessMugrabi of @aurasportsgroup.
It’s the most fully guaranteed money for a kicker on a one-year deal in NFL history. Gay can earn… pic.twitter.com/QY6KnF51TH
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 29, 2025
The Commanders are reportedly releasing current kicker Zane Gonzalez in a corresponding roster move.
Of course, the Colts surprisingly released Gay just a few weeks ago, but in a kicker starved league, it was fully expected that the former Pro Bowler would resurface with a starting job elsewhere much sooner rather than later.
As one of the highest paid kickers in football last year with the Colts, Gay never quite lived up to this lucrative multi-year free agent contract with Indianapolis.
While Gay was a perfect 28 for 28 in field goals from up to 49 yards in 2024, he struggled on 50+ yard field goal attempts, converting just 3 of 9 (33%) of such long attempts.
It was a bit frustrating from Colts fans’ perspective, given half of his games were played under a climate-controlled roof.
He finished this past year, having made 31 of 37 (83.8%) field goal attempts—with all misses coming from 50+ yards.
Instead, the Colts re-signed 2nd-year kicker Spencer Shrader, who really stood out during last year’s training camp and preseason with Indianapolis, before filling in for Gay due to injury during last year’s opener—going a pristine 3 for 3 from extra point range.
While the Colts ultimately waived Shrader once Gay was healthy again shortly thereafter, they clearly kept their eye on him during his later stints with both the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs—where he was a perfect 5 for 5 from field goal range collectively.
The Colts announced the re-signing of Shrader in early March, which seemed a bit unusual, given that they usually bring in an extra camp and training camp undrafted rookie to ‘compete’ for the starting job after the NFL Draft—although Gay’s job wasn’t thought to be in much jeopardy, given that his release didn’t present much salary cap savings.
That turned out to be incorrect, as the Colts elected to go with Shrader moving forward.