There's that classic football adage, "Kickers are people, too!" The Cincinnati Bengals' 2021 draft class will forever be celebrated thanks to the arrival of Ja'Marr Chase, who forms one of the NFL's elite passing game combos with superstar quarterback Joe Burrow.
Pretty much every single other pick made by Duke Tobin and Co. from that rookie group was a complete misfire, save for one. That'd be placekicker Evan McPherson, who exploded onto the scene with clutch field goal after clutch field goal, including the game-winner to send Cincinnati to Super Bowl LVI.
McPherson has had a rather rocky road since then. Even though the Bengals doubled down on him with a pricey contract extension before the 2024 season, "Money Mac" hasn't totally held up his end of the bargain. He's been inconsistent to put it kindly.
In the midst of Super Bowl-or-bust expectations, all eyes will be on McPherson to deliver the goods in the penultimate year of one of the most expensive kicker contracts.
Bengals kicker Evan McPherson under huge pressure to deliver career year
As far as average annual value on kicker contracts, McPherson is the seventh highest-paid player at his position in the NFL at $5.5 million. His three-year, $16.5 million deal runs through 2027, yet that doesn't mean he'll see the end of it.
Look no further than Green Bay Packers veteran Brandon McManus. He was rewarded a three-year extension last offseason, but after some critical misfires in the Pack's collapse to the Chicago Bears on Wild Card Weekend, Green Bay turned around, drafted Trey Smack, and released McManus in early May.
The good news is, McPherson has proven he can get it done in crunch time before. It's just that, he cost the Bengals dearly during Burrow's MVP-worthy 2024 campaign. One converted kick here or there could've easily catapulted Cincinnati into the playoffs, and even with that dreadful defense, who knows what may have happened from there?
In FanSided's cutting-edge metric, Kick Value Added, McPherson ranked 11th this past season. However, it's not like he was in a lot of high-stakes moments, as the Bengals stumbled to a 6-11 record.
The year prior was a lot worse, as McPherson was 39th. That's hard to do, since there are only 32 NFL teams. He was 30th in 2022 when the Bengals went to the AFC Championship Game, and 12th in 2023.
Talk about a roller coaster.
As long as McPherson can hover somewhere between where he was in his latest bounce-back season, and the elite form he flashed as a rookie, Cincinnati can look forward to leaning on him with the game on the line in 2026.
It's time for McPherson to make good on the organization's faith in him. The soon-to-be 27-year-old did well to rally back from his post-payday slump. That said, the pressure is really on now. He's effectively playing for his next contract this season.
Don't get it twisted, though. If McPherson flops in multiple big spots, the Bengals could easily move off him next offseason, seek out an upgrade, and save about $3.6 million in cap space with a pre-June 1 release in the process.
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