Who Should I Start? Matt Gay or Jake Bates

Thursday, April 10, 1:08 PM

The Indianapolis Colts released kicker Matt Gay on Thursday, just two seasons after signing him to a big free-agent deal, according to The 33rd Team's Ari Meirov. In his time with the Colts, Gay went 64-for-78 on his field-goal attempts (11-for-22 from 50-plus yards) and made 68 of his 69 extra-point attempts in 33 games. The 31-year-old signed a four-year, $22.5 million deal with Indy before the 2023 season. Gay made 31 of his 37 field-goal tries in 16 regular-season games last year, including only three of his nine attempts from 50-plus yards. While he was pretty consistent in his time with the Colts, it appears his success rate from long range wasn't good enough to keep him around. Spencer Shrader is currently the kicker on the team's roster, but they'll likely add competition for him heading into training camp this summer.

Friday, January 17, 1:49 AM

Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates has never appeared in an NFL playoff game before, but he already ranks as the No. 1 overall kicker in RotoBaller's Divisional Round fantasy rankings. His highly anticipated performance against the Washington Commanders on Saturday is the result of an impressive regular season in which he scored the seventh-most fantasy points among kickers. He missed just three field-goal attempts, and the Lions' incredibly potent offense put him in position to make a whopping 64 extra points. Also working in his favor is a somewhat favorable matchup against the Commanders, who surrendered two field goals to Chase McLaughlin last week, including one from 50 yards out. All in all, Bates is this week's top fantasy kicker thanks to his accuracy, power, and role on a dominant Lions team.