Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers have leaned on kicker Matthew Wright as a reliable backup to Chris Boswell multiple times since he first joined the league as a Steelers undrafted free agent in 2019, but he will not be available to them this offseason.
The Carolina Panthers signed Wright to a future contract on Tuesday, returning to a place where he kicked in 2023, when Eddy Piñeiro was dealing with an injury. Piñeiro is now set to hit unrestricted free agency, and Wright gives the Panthers a solid backup option if they’re not able to work out a deal with their incumbent placekicker.
A Lancaster, Pa, native, Wright was with the Steelers in training camp in 2019, then came back during the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season as a practice squad kicker. He was called up for three games in that season, going 4 for 4 on field goals and 7 for 7 on extra points.
He turned that into so far the only full-time gig of his career, when he spent 14 games as the kicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. He made 21 of 24 field goals and 13 of 15 extra points, but was not brought back for the 2022 season.
In 2022, the Steelers signed him off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad after Chris Boswell suffered a groin injury. He missed two field goals in his first game back with the Steelers but stuck around for a four-game stretch and finished 12 of 14 on field goals and 7 of 7 on extra points.
Last year, the Steelers signed Wright on April 10, bringing him along throughout the process of OTAs, minicamp and training camp. He kicked in all three preseasons games, making his only field goal attempt and missing his only extra point try. He was waived at the end of the preseason, with the Steelers unsuccessfully trying to find a trading partner.
Wright has also has several stops with the Kansas City Chiefs as a backup to Harrison Butker. He kicked in two games in two stints with the Chiefs in 2022, and was brought back to Kansas City this past season after both Butker and Spencer Shrader were injured. He kicked in two games for K.C. in 2024, making 8 of 9 field goals and both extra point attempts.
Wright also had his one-game stint as Piñeiro’s backup in Carolina in 2023, and spent one game with the San Francisco 49ers and two games with the Tennessee Titans in 2024.
The 29-year-old has made 55 of 63 field goals in his career for an 87.3 average. His career-long kick is 59 yards, with the Chiefs in 2022.
The Steelers do not have a backup to Boswell on their 90-man offseason roster. B.T. Potter, who was the team’s training camp kicker in 2023, will be kicking with the Michigan Panthers of the UFL this season. Nick Sciba, their 2022 training camp kicker, 2024 season out of football after playing with the New Jersey Generals of the...
