5 best kickers in Tampa Bay Buccaneers team history

Criteria for selection

There are a few things we will take into consideration when determining who is the "best" kicker the Bucs have ever had.

• Career kicking stats (points, accuracy, etc)
• Impact on the team's success (playoff appearances, Super Bowl wins)
• Leadership qualities and intangibles
• Longevity and consistency
• Memorable moments and clutch performances

Top 5 kickers in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history

5. Chase McLaughlin

• 2023-present
• 29/31 FGs
• 33/33 XPs
• 120 points

It’s almost hard to believe, but Chase McLaughlin only needed a single year in Tampa Bay to become one of the best kickers in franchise history. Don’t let the team’s horrid kicker curse dilute just how fantastic McLaughlin was in his short time with the Bucs.

During the 2023 season, McLaughlin made every single extra point he attempted and only missed a pair of field goals. One of the things the Buccaneers needed was a kicker who could bomb some deep balls and help the offense not leave points on the field, which is exactly what McLaughlin did.

Buccaneers fans have been scarred by terrible kicker luck over the years, and it’s hard to overstate just how amazing it was to have McLaughlin take the field and not feel a rush of dread or terror wash over. He was a lowkey addition in the offseason but he’s turned into a guy who has a chance to one day rank even higher on this list.

4. Connor Barth

• 2009-2015
• 114/136 FGs
• 135/136 XPs
• 477 points

Things got bleak for the Buccaneers after Connor Barth left, which is a testament to the team not appreciating what it had before it was lost. He succeeded Matt Bryant, who was easily one of the best kickers in franchise history, and Barth managed to live up to the task.

He answered the bell of following in Bryant’s footsteps by missing just a single extra point in seven seasons and finishing his time in Tampa Bay tied for the most kicks made over 50-yards. Only Martin Gramatica made as many kicks from that distance as Barth did, which goes to show the rarified air he breathed while with the Bucs.

3. Michael Husted

• 1993-1998
• 117/160 FGs
• 151/156 XPs
• 502 points

The Buccaneers are largely known for their inability to find reliable kicking, but when the franchise hits, it hits. That was the case with Michael Husted, who is quietly one of the greatest kickers in Tampa Bay’s history.

He set new all-time records for points, longest field goals, and the most kicks over 50-yards during his seven year career with the Bucs. All of those marks have since been bested, but Husted managed to do it all at a time when the team wasn’t nearly as good as it would become in the years after he left.

Even after all these years, Husted still ranks as third highest-scoring Buccaneers player of all-time, just behind Mike Evans.

2. Matt Bryant

• 2005-2008
• 98/118 FGs
• 122/124 XPs
• 416 points

Bucaneers fans are no strangers to how deep the team fell into a kicking hole during the later half of the 2010s, and that tumble arguably started with the release of Matt Bryant.

Perhaps the highlight of his time with Tampa Bay was The Kick, which set a new franchise record for the longest field goal. Bryant kicked a 62-yard game-winner against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 of the 2006 season. It still ranks among the longest kicks in NFL history and the context in which it occurred has made it an all-time franchise moment for Tampa Bay.

1. Martin Gramatica

• 1999-2004
• 137/179 FGs
• 181/183 XPs
• 592 points

Not only is Martin Gramatica the best kicker in Buccaneers history, he’s one of the franchise’s greatest all-time players. He was a fan favorite during his time in Tampa Bay and backed it up by being one of the most reliable players over the course of the team’s late-90s/early-00s peak.

Gramatica is the franchise-leader in points scored, which isn’t the knock that some dorks might try to make it out to be. He was dubbed “Automatica Gramatica” for a reason, as he almost never missed when his number was called. During his five years in Tampa Bay, Gramatica only missed two extra points and had a an absolute hammer for a leg. Of his 179 field goals he kicked in Tampa Bay, 43 of them came from 40 yards or beyond.

His 2000 season is easily his greatest. That year Gramatica went 42-for-42 on extra points and set a new single-season record for points scored with 126, all of which earned him a Pro Bowl selection.

Of course, he’s probably best remembered for flamboyant celebrations which was exactly the energy those Bucs teams needed. He kicked his way into the record books, danced his way into the hearts of fans, and will remain one of the greatest players in franchise history for a very long time.

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