After 13 long years, it’s officially the end of an era in Baltimore. In light of Lamar Jackson’s $43.5 million salary cap hit, in addition to his ongoing legal troubles, the Baltimore Ravens are designating their franchise kicker, Justin Tucker, as a post-June first cut.
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The move will net the Ravens $4.2 million in savings, generating a bit of breathing room for Jackson’s ever-increasing cap hits. Cutting Tucker should also allow the franchise to address other, more pertinent needs, while creating some flexibility for future contract restructures.
While it will certainly help Baltimore to shave off 10% of Jackson’s cost this year, Tucker is set to leave $7.5 million of dead cap money in his wake, an unprecedented amount for a kicker. Nevertheless, the breakup will likely prove to be better for the Ravens than for Tucker.
At 35 years of age, Tucker now finds himself as one of the most-decorated yet least desirable members of his profession. From an accuracy standpoint, the 2024 season was the worst of his career.
Tucker routinely struggled from long distances, with all eight of his misses coming on tries of 40 yards or more. Likewise, his FG% of 73.3% was the worst of his 13-year NFL career, while his XP% of 96.8% was the second lowest.
In addition to his faltering performance, Tucker is also currently being investigated by the NFL on account of 16 sexual assault allegations from former massage therapists. Given the inflammatory nature of the claims, in addition to the fact that the scandal comes on the heels of DeShaun Watson’s resolving yet another one of his numerous sexual assault allegations, it’s likely that Flacco’s legal troubles had some influence over the Ravens’ final decision.
After the team decided to spend the 186th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Tyler Loop, a kicker from the University of Arizona, well after Tucker’s allegations had come to light, many believed that this announcement was inevitable. In light of the news, Baltimore has released the following statement:
Statement from Executive Vice President and General Manager Eric DeCosta pic.twitter.com/TNQrqw3me2
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 5, 2025
Despite Tucker’s current reputation, both the organization and its head coach, Jim Harbaugh, insist that this is a “football decision.” When speaking with members of the media following Loops’ selection in the draft, Harbaugh maintained that no one on the team was privy to any of the information involved in the league’s ongoing investigation into Tucker, and as a result, would not be basing any decisions on its existence alone.
“We haven’t been given any information, as it should be. It’s all done the way it’s done. So, we don’t know anything along those lines, so you can’t make any decisions based on that… Every decision we make has to be based on football. There’s a lot of layers to that.”
Of course, the comments have done little to curb publication speculation, as is often the case. The decision will likely pain Jackson, who often referred to Tucker as the ‘G.O.A.T. kicker.’
Even after a poor performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, a game that could have been won for the Ravens had it not been for a pair of misses by Tucker, Jackson remained firm in his belief in Tucker and his talents.
“I believe he’s still the GOAT. Hell yeah, I have confidence (in him).”
For better or worse, Tucker’s departure from both Baltimore and potentially the league as a whole brings a better end to what was otherwise considered to be a pretty sweet era for NFL kickers.
