Who Should I Start? Eddy Pineiro or Chase McLaughlin

Monday, May 20, 9:56 PM

Carolina Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro continues to skip the portion of the team's voluntary offseason program, which has allowed undrafted rookie Harrison Mevis to shine during organized team activities. Mevis made all five of his field-goal attempts on Monday, including a long of 47 yards. Pineiro is the league's 21st-highest-paid kicker and is in the final year of his two-year, $4.1 million deal. "I'm sure Eddy has a plan for this whole thing," head coach Dave Canales said. The 28-year-old veteran missed the final two games in 2023 for the Panthers with a hamstring injury, but he's likely healthy now and should report for mandatory minicamp next month. Carolina's offense should improve with more offensive weapons in quarterback Bryce Young's second season in 2024, but fantasy managers in standard-sized leagues can avoid Pineiro on draft day.

Monday, March 11, 5:15 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to an undisclosed three-year deal to re-sign kicker Chase McLaughlin on Monday, according to a source. McLaughlin will stay with the Buccaneers after going 29-for-31 on his field-goal attempts and 33-for-33 on his extra points in 17 regular-season games. The 27-year-old's success rate on field goals last year set a new single-season record, so it's no wonder why Tampa wanted the kicker back for another go-round in 2024 as their primary kicker. From a fantasy perspective, McLaughlin finished as the No. 16 kicker in terms of overall fantasy points in 2023. The Bucs offense should remain largely the same this year with quarterback Baker Mayfield and top wideout Mike Evans sticking around, so McLaughlin should enter the year as a matchup-based streamer at the kicking position in fantasy.