Who Should I Start? Robbie Gould or Matt Prater

Thursday, December 7, 12:25 PM

Veteran kicker Robbie Gould officially announced his retirement from professional football on Thursday after 18 years kicking in the NFL. Gould began his career as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State and was signed by the Chicago Bears in 2005. He spent the next 11 seasons with Chicago, making 85.4% of his 323 field-goal attempts and 99% of his extra points, earning a first-team All-Pro selection and Pro Bowl nod in his second year in 2006. Gould spent one year with the New York Giants before ending his career with six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. The 41-year-old finishes up an excellent NFL career with a field-goal percentage of 86.5 and extra-point conversion rate of 97.5%. Gould was one of the most reliable kickers of his generation.

Friday, January 3, 12:10 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said that veteran kicker Matt Prater (knee) "will not go" in the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. Prater suffered a meniscus injury in his knee earlier this year and missed the last three months as a result. The 40-year-old kicker only ended up playing in four games in 2024 before injuring his knee in his fourth year with Arizona and 18th year in the NFL. In the four games he was active, Prater made all six of his field-goal attempts (one from 50-plus yards) and was successful on all 10 of his extra-point tries as well. Prater will be a free agent heading into his age-41 season in 2025. Chad Ryland will close out the year this weekend as Arizona's kicker. He's bounced back from a tough rookie season with the Pats to go 26-for-30 on field goals and 21-for-22 on extra points in his 12 games with the Cardinals.