Harrison Butker drilled a 69-yard field goal vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 of the preseason. Yes, you read that number right. He would have created history had the kick been made in the regular season. However, Butker’s field goal is also a premonition of what can come in the future, thanks to the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule.
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“The NFL needs to figure this out,” Bleeding Green’s John Stolnis wrote on X. “You can’t have guys out here kicking 69-yard field goals. This is happening way too much. Figure it out, get it fixed.”
Modern kickers have become much better at making very long field goals. Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys has already made more 60-yard field goals in just three seasons than NFL kickers made combined during the entire 20th century. Cam Little of the Jaguars also showed how far kickers can now kick by making 67- and 68-yard field goals in the 2025 season.
But what concerns many is how frequently the area near the 50-yard line will become field-goal range. Thanks to the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule, offenses usually start their drives at the 31-yard line, and could easily get into scoring range after a few plays.
Last NFL season, kickers attempted 22 field goals from 60 yards or farther and made 12. The surprising part is that kickers made 14 such kicks in total during the three seasons before that.
This can change how teams make decisions on fourth down. Normally, when a team faces a difficult fourth down, the coach may choose to punt because trying to get the first down can be risky. But if the team has a kicker who can regularly make field goals from 60 or more yards, the coach may decide to try for three easy points instead of the six. They’d only have to reach the 40-50 yard range.
Moreover, the NFL has also brought in special K-balls for kicking, which Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio claims has “drastically changed the kicking game.”
“The way they have changed the ball, the NFL has drastically changed the field goals,” he said.
Butker, however, claims it will still be a challenge for him to make those long kicks.
“I feel like throughout my career when I’ve had big kicks, it’s been a struggle to finish the game or the next game,” he said after the game.
The longest kick Harrison Butker has made in his career is 62 yards. And, so far in his career, he has successfully converted 35 of his 53 field goal attempts beyond 50 yards. Little himself landed a 70-yard field goal in the 2025 preseason; with the amended rules, we might get to see special teams on the field more often than not.
