Chris Boswell

Career StatsB

Year	Team	GP	FG%
Career		108	87.7%
2025		17	84.4%
2024		17	93.2%
2023		17	93.5%
2022		12	71.4%
2021

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Steelers locked up one of the NFL's most reliable kickers with a deal that represents solid value in today's inflated market. At $5M per year, Boswell's contract places him in the upper tier of kicker salaries, but his above-average production over the past several seasons justifies the investment — this earns a B CVI as a fair deal that slightly favors Pittsburgh. The 32-year-old has been a franchise-caliber weapon in crucial moments, converting at elite rates from 40+ yards and proving clutch in playoff scenarios where games are decided by margins. The four-year term carries modest risk given that kickers can decline rapidly, but the $9.8M guaranteed provides reasonable protection while allowing the team flexibility after two seasons if performance drops. Pittsburgh clearly prioritized stability at a position that has burned countless teams, and while $20M total feels steep for any kicker, Boswell's track record of delivering in high-leverage situations makes this a defensible allocation of cap space. The Steelers essentially paid a premium to avoid the kicker carousel that has plagued franchises league-wide.

Performance Analysis

Chris Boswell is an 11-year veteran kicker who has quietly built one of the more reliable résumés at his position in the modern NFL era, going undrafted out of Rice before carving out a long-term role as Pittsburgh's placekicker and earning a reputation as one of the league's steadier specialists. His overall body of work earns a solid B grade, a reflection of a career defined more by consistency and clutch moments than by fleeting dominance, and he remains a trusted weapon for a Steelers franchise that has historically valued special teams excellence. Among veteran kickers in the league, Boswell sits in the middle tier — not quite in the conversation with the elite like Justin Tucker or Evan McVay, but well above the journeymen cycling through rosters on one-year prove-it deals. That said, his 2025 campaign has introduced legitimate questions about where he stands at age 35, and the narrative around his future is no longer as settled as it once appeared. The most pressing concern heading into any evaluation of Boswell right now is a current-season field goal accuracy of 84.4%, sitting just below the NFL average of 85.0% and well off the elite threshold of 93.0% — a meaningful dip for a kicker who posted back-to-back A+ seasons in 2023 and 2024. The drop from an A+ in 2024 to a D+ in 2025 is jarring by any measure, and it represents the steepest single-season decline of his career. To his credit, the broader arc of his career tells a more flattering story — his sustained accuracy over more than a decade justifies the benefit of the doubt that a single rough stretch doesn't always receive. The question is whether this is a correctable slump tied to circumstance, or an early signal of age-related regression that often arrives quietly for kickers in their mid-30s. Looking forward, Boswell's trajectory will hinge entirely on how he responds in the second half of the 2025 season and whether the Steelers show confidence by keeping him in pressure situations. If he can stabilize his accuracy back toward the upper-80s range where he spent most of his prime, there is still a path to a productive final chapter in Pittsburgh. But if the D+ trend continues, the Steelers — like any analytically-minded front office — will be forced to evaluate whether sentiment and history should outweigh present-day production at one of football's highest-leverage positions.

Current Sentiment

Chris Boswell carries a B+ sentiment grade heading into 2026, reflecting the complex reality of an elite kicker whose reputation has developed some hairline cracks. After 11 seasons as Pittsburgh's reliable leg, including multiple Pro Bowl selections and countless clutch moments, Boswell remains widely regarded as one of the NFL's premier specialists. However, recent media coverage has introduced a subtle but noticeable shift in tone, with high-profile misses at critical moments generating headlines that question whether the Steelers face legitimate concerns at the position for the first time in years. The Contract Value Index (CVI) suggests this sentiment pullback may be premature — franchise kickers with Boswell's track record typically maintain elite performance well into their 30s, and single-game mishaps rarely predict systemic decline. While the Steelers organization and fanbase still hold him in high regard, as evidenced by positive personal coverage, the narrative around his reliability has shifted from unquestioned confidence to cautious optimism. Boswell enters 2026 in a "prove it" window where early-season performance will determine whether he reclaims his unassailable reputation or sees further erosion of public confidence.