Who Should I Start? Brandon McManus or Kaimi Fairbairn

Monday, March 11, 11:22 PM

Free-agent kicker Brandon McManus agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million contract with Washington on Monday night. The 32-year-old spent his first nine seasons in Denver before landing in Jacksonville for the 2023-24 campaign. He had one of the best seasons of his career, connecting on 30 of his 37 field goal tries while nailing all 35 extra-point attempts. McManus finished last season a borderline top-10 fantasy kicker, so there's no reason to believe he can't come close to matching that level of production. However, there will be plenty of better kickers ahead of him in pre-draft rankings heading into Week 1. Either way, the veteran will likely find his way onto most fantasy rosters.

Wednesday, March 6, 2:35 PM

The Houston Texans re-signed kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn to a three-year, $15.9 million deal on Wednesday, according to a source. Fairbairn's average annual value of $5.3 million makes him the fourth-highest paid kicker in the league on a yearly basis. The 30-year-old kicked in a career-low 12 games in 2023 due to injury, but he was solid when he was active, making 96.4 percent of his 28 field-goal attempts while missing just one of his 22 extra-point tries during the regular season. All seven of his NFL seasons have come with the Texans, and he's made 87.1 percent of his 201 field-goal attempts in that time. With young quarterback C.J. Stroud leading what should be an explosive Houston offense for years to come, Fairbairn's fantasy needle is pointing up heading into 2024.