Who Should I Start? Zane Gonzalez or Chase McLaughlin

Tuesday, September 5, 6:14 PM

San Francisco 49ers kicker Zane Gonzalez (calf) has been released by the team in order to clear some cap space on Tuesday. The 49ers placed the veteran kicker on IR last week as they pared their roster down to 53 players and he is now free to sign with any team, although, that may be difficult with his current injury. 2023 third-round pick, Jake Moody (quad) is expected to be the 49ers starting kicker once the regular season begins but he's dealing with an injury himself. San Francisco signed Matthew Wright as a backup if Moody can't suit up on Sunday at Pittsburgh. The 49ers are loaded at pretty much every position group on their roster but kicker, as it stands right now, is not one of them. They may need to bring in another reliable veteran kicking option if Moody's recovery takes longer than expected.

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.