What the Extension of an All-Pro Kicker Brings to the Steelers in 2026
On Monday, May 11th, the Pittsburgh Steelers and kicker Chris Boswell reached an agreement on a four-year $28 Million contract, making him the highest-paid kicker in the league alongside Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers' 35-year-old kicker, nicknamed ‘Boz’, is now under contract with Pittsburgh through the 2030 season and will likely finish his career in the Steel City. One of the Steelers' biggest members and their leading scorer for the past several years, the re-signing of the veteran brings assurance to the team. ‘Boz’ has consistently been listed as one of the top kickers in the NFL, and he was awarded First Team All-Pro honors in 2024, as well as making the Pro Bowl. Before his 11-year career in Pittsburgh, ‘Boz’ went undrafted out of Rice University and had brief stints with the Texans and Giants, but the Steel City is where he has found his home. The 2024 All-Pro is not only an amazing kicker, but he is loved by fans as well. Holding an 87.7% career field goal percentage, good for sixth in NFL history, along with a 95.7% career extra-point percentage, the 2024 All-Pro has shown his consistency and skill. Combined with his ability to nail 50-yard field goals in Pittsburgh, which is known for being a hard city to kick in, the fans absolutely love him.
Steelers fans trust Pittsburgh's automatic from long range, and he has occasionally been called ‘The Wizard of Boz’ for his multiple game-winning kicks over the past four years for Pittsburgh. In Boswell’s first and only All-Pro selection in 2024, he had his best season by far, as he led the entire NFL in scoring with 158 points. The former undrafted free agent hit 41 out of 44 field goal attempts, leading the NFL in field goals made, while recording a 93.2% field goal percentage. Boswell also had a perfect 35 for 35 on extra points and had 13 field goals of 50 or more yards. In 2025, ‘Boz’ followed up his stellar All-Pro campaign. He had a slight regression, hitting 27 of his 32 attempted field goals, good for 84.4%. However, the special teams cornerstone scored a career-long 60-yard field goal in a Week One victory over the New York Jets, and went 42 for 43 on extra points, 97.7%. ‘Boz’ is one of the only Steelers veterans with some playoff success, as he went six for six on field goals in an 18-16 victory over the Chiefs in the 2017 Divisional Round. Currently, Boswell is the Steelers' second all-time leading scorer, behind Gary Anderson, who played 13 seasons for Pittsburgh. At 1,127 total points, the Steelers’ silent point machine is only 216 points behind Anderson, and with five years to work, he will almost certainly surpass him for the Steelers' all-time leading scorer.
The Steelers extension of Chris Boswell could lead to more potential re-signings for Pittsburgh. Steelers general manager Omar Khan spoke after Boswell’s extension and said, “We have some good young players that we’d like to extend. Realistically, you’d love to get them all, but it probably doesn’t always happen that way. We’re talking to some guys, and we’ll see where it goes.” Despite the All-Pro kicker’s extension being massive, it was well deserved and one of the easier ones to figure out. The Steelers' ability to quickly lock up a veteran who serves as a strong leader for this team will inspire these younger players seeking extensions to stay in Pittsburgh under this leadership and dedication. Sometimes lumped in with the ‘Killer B’s’ of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell, Pennsylvania's field-goal technician has been a household name among Steelers fans for years. Even after a rough 2018 campaign, where he had a 65.0% FG%, and 2022, where he had a 71.4% FG%, Pittsburgh has stuck with the skilled kicker. ‘Boz’ has been a savior in the city of Pittsburgh, and with this extension, he’ll be saving Pittsburgh some more for the foreseeable future.
