Who Should I Start? Greg Joseph or Ryan Fitzgerald

Friday, May 16, 11:47 PM

The San Francisco 49ers signed free-agent veteran kicker Greg Joseph to an undisclosed one-year deal on Friday, according to his agent. Joseph will head to the NFC West after he spent 2024 kicking for three teams -- the New York Giants, Washington Commanders and New York Jets. In eight games with those three clubs, the 30-year-old veteran went 16-for-20 on his field-goal attempts (1-for-2 from 50-plus yards) and 11-for-11 on his extra-point tries. Joseph will be in a competition in training camp for the starting kicking job this summer with Jake Moody, who will be the favorite to win the competition. Joseph entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic before debuting with the Cleveland Browns in 2018. He has an 82.3% success rate on 141 career field-goal attempts over his six seasons in the league.

Tuesday, June 17, 2:34 PM

The Carolina Panthers' kicking competition is on between veteran Matthew Wright and rookie Ryan Fitzgerald, and Joe Person of The Athletic believes the youngster has the leg up so far this offseason. Fitzgerald went unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft and was picked up by Carolina shortly after. Over his final two seasons at Florida State, he connected on 32 of his 34 field goal attempts and all 72 extra point tries. He did not miss any of his 18 total kicks a season ago. In his first NFL offseason, he continues to find success. "[Dave] Canales said it's too soon to name a leader in the kicking competition, but Fitzgerald appears to have the edge on veteran Matthew Wright, based on how each looked during the practices open to the media," Person wrote. "After a tough first week in rainy and windy conditions, Fitzgerald was 9-for-10 on field goals on the skinny goal posts over the next two practices with reporters present." If Carolina's offense takes a big step forward under third-year quarterback Bryce Young, the team's starting kicker could have solid fantasy football value.