Chiefs face sharp questions after signing Justin Tucker to practice squad

Greg Fiume/Getty Images/File

The Kansas City Chiefs signed Justin Tucker to their practice squad on Wednesday, giving the five-time All-Pro kicker a second chance in the NFL after serving a 10-game suspension last year for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

Tucker spent 13 seasons with the Ravens, earning a reputation as one of the league’s best kickers, before his tenure in Baltimore ended in controversy. The Baltimore Banner reported in 2025 that he had been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 massage therapists at high-end spas, accusations that Tucker called “unequivocally false” and “tabloid fodder.”

Sam Hodde/Getty Images/File

NFL kicker Justin Tucker suspended 10 weeks for violating league’s personal conduct policy

The Ravens released him that May. And while Tucker was never criminally charged or sued in civil court, the NFL suspended him for the first 10 games of the 2025 season, which Tucker served as a free agent; he became eligible for reinstatement last November.

“He’s done his suspension, you know? Took care of that business,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Wednesday, “and I’ll leave it at that.”

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has struggled mightily the past two seasons, missing a pair of kicks in Sunday’s loss in Seattle, and the signing of Tucker provides some competition for him — even though Reid said Butker would kick this Sunday in Denver.

The Chiefs also worked out Ben Sauls and Harrison Mevis before giving Tucker the open spot on their practice squad.

“Listen, Harrison, we love. I’ve told you that before. He’s one of my favorite guys,” Reid said, “and sometimes things don’t go quite the way you want, and you work on that. He understands the business and how it works. We had a practice squad position open. Butker gets it. He knows that’s part of the business. He’s struggling a little bit and he gets it.”

Butker has missed 10 field-goal attempts and five PATs since the start of last season, the most in the league, and they’ve come at quite a cost. He’s the third-highest paid kicker in the league, carrying the sixth-highest base salary on the Kansas City roster.

“Obviously he didn’t do very good this past game. I’m stating the obvious there,” Reid said, “and he’s been up and down. This happens. And you know, anybody else in this business, myself included, you have to pick it up and do better. He gets that.”

Justin Tucker calls inappropriate sexual misconduct allegations against him ‘so shocking and heart-breaking’

Tucker, who turns 37 next month, hadn’t been much better before he was released by Baltimore. He missed 10 kicks during the 2024 season, by far the most during a career that has included seven Pro Bowl selections.

The Chiefs have proven a willingness to give players — and kickers, for that matter — a second chance.

Last year, they brought back running back Kareem Hunt, whom the Chiefs had released years earlier after security footage showed him kicking a woman in a hotel hallway. And they signed current punter Matt Araiza, who was among multiple people accused of raping a woman at San Diego State; Araiza claimed the encounters with the woman were consensual, the district attorney declined to file criminal charges, he later filed a defamation suit and pending cases were dropped with neither side admitting wrongdoing.

Asked what goes into making such decisions, Reid replied: “I try to do homework on it. See exactly what’s taken place. (Tucker) served his suspension. Spent time involved in it. That’s how I evaluate it.”

Tucker also has had some run-ins with his new teammates, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.

Two years ago, before the AFC championship game in Baltimore, the kicker was warming up in an area where Mahomes typically does his pregame work. The quarterback asked Tucker to move his gear, he responded by moving it ever-so slightly and Kelce promptly kicked his footballs and helmet away, leading to an exchange of words between them.

Baltimore Ravens release veteran kicker Justin Tucker, calling it a ‘football decision’

The Chiefs won the game 17-10, sending them back to the Super Bowl, where they beat San Francisco for their second straight title.

“It wasn’t like we had any beef that moment,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “At the end of the day, we’re just playing a game. You want to compete and you want to win. But it’s not like we had a longstanding beef that carries on. We won that game.”

Butker also has courted controversy during his time in Kansas City, though it’s been political rather than legal.

Several years ago, he made what he called a “very intentional” foray into politics when he delivered a polarizing commencement address at Benedictine College in which Butker said, among other things, that most of the women receiving degrees were probably more excited about getting married and having children than beginning a professional career.

Butker later formed a political action committee for the 2024 election to encourage Christians to vote for “traditional values.”

Greg Fiume/Getty Images/文件

堪萨斯城酋长队周三与贾斯汀·塔克签约，将其加入训练阵容。这位五次入选全明星的踢球手在去年因违反联盟个人行为准则而被禁赛 10 场后，获得了在 NFL 的第二次机会。

塔克在巴尔的摩乌鸦队效力了13个赛季，赢得了联盟最佳踢球手之一的美誉，但他在巴尔的摩的生涯却以争议告终。《巴尔的摩旗帜报》在2025年报道称，他被16名在高档水疗中心工作的按摩师指控性行为不端，塔克称这些指控“绝对虚假”且“纯属小报炒作”。

Sam Hodde/Getty Images/文件

NFL踢球手贾斯汀·塔克因违反联盟个人行为准则被禁赛10周。

那年五月，乌鸦队解雇了他。虽然塔克从未受到刑事指控或民事诉讼，但NFL还是对他处以2025赛季前10场比赛的禁赛处罚，塔克在那个赛季以自由球员身份出战；他于去年11月获得了复出资格。

“他已经服完禁赛期了，你知道吗？已经处理完这件事了，”酋长队教练安迪·里德周三表示，“我就说到这儿吧。”

酋长队踢球手哈里森·巴特克在过去两个赛季表现非常挣扎，在周日西雅图的失利中错失了两次射门机会，而塔克的签约给他带来了一些竞争——尽管里德表示巴特克将在本周日丹佛的比赛中踢球。

在将训练阵容中的空缺名额给塔克之前，酋长队还试训了本·索尔斯和哈里森·梅维斯。

“听着，哈里森，我们很喜欢你。我之前就跟你说过。他是我最喜欢的球员之一，”里德说道，“有时候事情不会总是如你所愿，你需要努力克服。他了解这个行业的运作方式。我们当时有个训练队的位置空缺。巴特克明白这一点。他知道这是生意的一部分。他现在有点挣扎，但他明白这一点。”

自上赛季开始以来，巴特克已经错失了10次任意球和5次附加分，是联盟中最多的，而且代价不菲。他是联盟薪水第三高的踢球手，在堪萨斯城酋长队中基本工资排名第六。

“很显然，他上一场比赛表现不佳。我说的都是显而易见的，”里德说道，“他最近状态起伏不定。这种情况时有发生。你知道，在这个行业里，包括我自己，每个人都必须振作起来，做得更好。他明白这一点。”

贾斯汀·塔克称针对他的不当性行为指控“令人震惊和心碎”。

下个月就满37岁的塔克，在被巴尔的摩队解约之前，表现也好不到哪里去。他在2024赛季错失了10次射门机会，这是他职业生涯中迄今为止最多的一次，而他职业生涯曾七次入选职业碗。

酋长队已经证明他们愿意给球员——当然也包括踢球手——第二次机会。

去年，他们重新签回了跑卫卡里姆·亨特，这位球员几年前曾因一段监控录像显示他在酒店走廊踢了一名女子而被酋长队解约。他们还签下了现任弃踢手马特·阿拉伊扎，他曾是圣地亚哥州立大学多名被控强奸一名女子的嫌疑人之一；阿拉伊扎声称与该女子的性行为是双方自愿的，地方检察官拒绝提起刑事诉讼，之后他提起诽谤诉讼，最终双方均未承认有罪，所有未决案件均被撤销。

当被问及做出此类决定时会考虑哪些因素时，里德回答说：“我会尽量做好功课，了解事情的来龙去脉。（塔克）已经服完了禁赛期，也参与其中一段时间​​了。这就是我评估的方式。”

塔克也与他的新队友发生了一些冲突，其中包括四分卫帕特里克·马霍姆斯和近端锋特拉维斯·凯尔西。

两年前，在巴尔的摩举行的美联冠军赛前，踢球手凯尔西正在马霍姆斯通常进行赛前热身的区域进行热身。四分卫马霍姆斯要求塔克挪开他的装备，塔克只是稍微挪了一下，凯尔西却立刻一脚踢开了他的橄榄球和头盔，两人随即发生了口角。

巴尔的摩乌鸦队裁掉了老将踢球手贾斯汀·塔克，称这是一个“出于足球方面的考虑”。

酋长队以 17-10 赢得了比赛，重返超级碗，并在超级碗中击败旧金山队，连续第二次夺得冠军。

“当时我们之间并没有什么矛盾，”马霍姆斯周三说道。“说到底，我们只是在打比赛。你想竞争，你想赢。但我们之间并没有什么长期积怨。我们赢了那场比赛。”

巴特克在堪萨斯城执教期间也曾引发争议，不过这些争议更多是政治性的，而非法律性的。

几年前，他“非常有意地”涉足政坛，在贝内迪克特学院的毕业典礼上发表了一篇极具争议的演讲。巴特克在演讲中表示，大多数获得学位的女性可能更热衷于结婚生子，而不是开始职业生涯。

巴特克后来成立了一个政治行动委员会，旨在鼓励基督徒在 2024 年大选中投票支持“传统价值观”。