The Las Vegas Raiders are still right in the thick of the AFC playoff picture, and one of the unsung heroes of the season has been kicker Daniel Carlson. The 26-year old has been almost automatic this season and has helped the Raiders win multiple contests.
Carlson has connected on 27 of his 30 field-goal attempts and 23 of 25 extra-point attempts to this point of the season. He is also 5-of-6 on field goals of 50 yards or more and 9-of-10 from that distance over the past two years. He has also been named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice this season, including Week 12 when he made all five of his field goals in the Raiders’ 36-33 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Now the Raiders are rewarding Carlson for his outstanding performance over the past two seasons as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports that Carlson and the Raiders have agreed on a four-year extension that will place him among the NFL’s highest-paid kickers:
The #Raiders are signing kicker Daniel Carlson to a four-year, $18.4 million extension that includes a $4M signing bonus and $10.2M guaranteed, per source. He’s now the NFL’s third-highest paid kicker. 💰💰
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 9, 2021
In terms of guaranteed money, the only two kickers in the league who would make more than Carlson’s reported $10.2 million are Baltimore’s Justin Tucker at $12.5 million and Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott at $10.45 million. While Tucker is on his way to being arguably the greatest kicker of all-time, it’s hard to argue that Carlson’s performance over the last two seasons hasn’t put him in the class with everyone else.
Originally a fifth-round selection of the Minnesota Vikings in 2018, Carlson was released after just two weeks, and the Raiders picked him up, where he has been thriving ever since.
In nearly four full seasons with the Raiders, Carlson has made 85.7% of his field goals and 95.5% of his extra points and has gotten better as time has gone on. Though 2019 was a bit of a rough year, Carlson has made 60-of-65 field goal attempts and 68-of-72 extra points in the past two years.
