The Rams should sign this free agent to address their kickoff issues.
I will continue to push the Los Angeles Rams to give kicker a little more consideration this offseason, even though I anticipate them to take the cheap route on special teams, as that is what they have done every since Sean McVay took over as head coach. The Rams struggled at kicker in 2020 and 2023, making a lot of poor decisions and choosing players that no other team wanted to sign.
2020 saw L.A. strike gold with Matt Gay, although it took a lot of suffering to get to him. They ought to steer clear of trouble this year and, should the opportunity arise, go after someone akin to Ka’imi Fairbairn.
Ka’imi Fairbairn is who?
Originally from Hawaii, John Christian Ka’iminoeauloameka’ikeokekumupa’a Fairbairn, as his full name is, was a four-year student at UCLA.
During his last two seasons, he made over 80% of his attempts, connecting on 76.4% of them.
Fairbairn, who went undrafted in 2016, joined the Texans in 2017 and has been the team’s kicker ever since. Fairbairn led the NFL in attempts and makes in 2018 (37 of 42), and he has improved each year since. In 2022, he made 93.5% of his kicks; the following year, he surpassed that total with 96.4% of his attempts, despite missing five games.
Fairbairn made 21 of 22 extra point attempts and 27 of 28 field goals. Additionally, he has good deep accuracy, going 11 of 12 on more than 50 attempts in the last two seasons.
Fairbairn was at his best when he returned from injured reserve this season, despite his quad injury.
Who are the current Rams?
It’s reasonable to speculate that Brett Maher may not return to the Rams. The Rams split the field goal attempts between Maher and Lucas Havrisik, going 32–43 with Maher making 74% and Havrisik making 75%. Maher made 3 of 7 shots after 50 yards.
Havrisik missed three extra points, while Maher missed two.
Given that Tanner Brown was officially reinstated by the Rams this week, it appears that L.A. won’t hold onto either. Prior to training camp, he was the starting kicker; however, during the preseason, the undrafted free agent was benched.
What is the price of Fairbairn?
These days, a top-tier kicker typically makes between $5 and $6 million a season. Nobody will probably earn as much as the NFL’s top player, Justin Tucker, who makes $6 million annually, but Fairbairn might make at least $5.5 million.
Can the Rams pull that off? Gay signed a $5.6 million contract with the Colts, so they let him go. Gay’s season stats aren’t great—he was only 33 of 41 this season, but he did well on extra points, going 35 of 36 and 8 of 13 beyond 50 yards. Without a doubt, if the Rams had retained him, they would have had a superior kicker.
Greg Zuerlein, a different former Rams kicker, was 35-of-38 for the Jets and 15-of-16 on extra points. Yes, the Jets kicker was limited to just 16 attempts at extra points.
Zuerlein, who is also a free agent, has a higher chance of not being tagged or extended than Fairbairn does. Could the Rams be open to a reunion?
Will Lutz, Nick Folk, Chase McLaughlin, Greg Joseph, and Joey Slye are among the other unrestricted free agents. One could contend that any one of the five is superior to the Rams’ previous roster.
Other than Fairbairn, there are alternatives that may be less expensive. However, for McVay, what is the value of not missing crucial kicks in 2024? I hope they’re willing to go over the minimum for the benefit of the Rams.
