Colts Cut Highly Paid Kicker, Utah Alum

News broke today that the Indianapolis Colts have released their place kicker of the last two seasons in 6-year NFL veteran, Matt Gay.

Gay, a super bowl LVI champion with the Rams years ago, was not only a top 5 “highest paid kicker” with the Colts but was two years into a four year deal he inked in 2023.

That deal, made him at that moment the highest paid kicker in the NFL at about $5.6 million a season.

After going 64/78 in the Hoosier state with the horseshoe, Gay finds himself looking for work.

11 of those 14 misses came from 50 or more yards out in that span.

Matt is a Utah kid right out of Orem, who played at Orem High School, spent two years at Utah Valley playing soccer and then spent two seasons in Salt Lake City as the University of Utah’s kicker as a walk-on turned legend.

With the Utes, Gay won a Lou Groza award, was a two-time all-American and a two-time first-team All Pac-12 kind of guy.

He was 3^rd all time at Utah in field goals made and 4^th in attempts going 56/65 at the U.

He set the Utes all time record for 50+ yard field goals made.

That success led him to be drafted in the 2019 NFL Draft with the 145^th overall selection in the 5^th round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Gay spent one season with the Bucs, three with the Rams, and the last two in Indianapolis.

On his career Gay has appeared in 90 games, attempting 193 field goals, making 165 of them for a 85.5 career percentage.

Matt is 206/214 on extra point attempts and has a career long of 58 yards.

Gay has never missed a field goal within 29 yards on 41 tries, was 54/58 on 30-39 yarders and 42/49 on 40-49 yard attempts.

His lowest percentage coincides with the hardest kicks (shocker, I know) as Gay is currently 28/45 from 50 yards and out for a 62 percent clip.

Where he lands next is to be determined, but one can always plan on kicker movement happening in the NFL on the regular, meaning the former pro-bowler is all but guaranteed another shot at it soon.