Steelers A to Z: Consistency keeps Chris Boswell ranked among NFL elite at kicker

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

K Chris Boswell

Experience/age: 10th year/33

Contract status: $4.72 million cap hit in 2024, signed through 2026

The past: After making 20 of 28 field-goal attempts (71.4%) in 2022, Boswell rebounded to convert 29 of 31 tries, including 6 of 7 from 50-plus yards. Boswell’s only misses were a 61-yarder against Jacksonville and a 45-yarder versus Arizona.

It was the second time that Boswell bounced back from an off season. Coincidentally, each time he made 29 of 31 attempts.

When he’s on, Boswell is as automatic as it gets. Since the start of the 2015 season, he has made 87.2% of his field goals, which ranks second among all NFL kickers with at least 250 attempts. The kicker that Boswell trails, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, has made 90.3% of his tries in that span.

Boswell has the best field-goal percentage in Steelers history for a kicker with at least 200 attempts, and he’s made 79.2% of his tries from 40 yards or longer. His 30 career field goals of 50-plus yards are the most in franchise history. Nobody else has made more than eight.

Boswell also saves his best for last, connecting on 74 of 80 field goals (92.5%) in the fourth quarter or overtime.

2024 outlook: Although the Steelers added Matthew Wright to the offseason roster, Boswell’s job hardly is in jeopardy. Injury is likely the only factor that would keep Boswell from earning the job again this season. After he missed five games due to a groin issue in 2022, Boswell was fully healthy last year and kicked in every game for the Steelers.

Boswell is the second-longest tenured player on the Steelers roster, and he owns many game, single-season and career kicking records for the franchise.

The one that eludes Boswell is career field goals. Gary Anderson’s record of 309 field goals figures to last several more seasons, but Boswell can chip away at it with another productive year. He will enter the season with 231 field goals, meaning it’s feasible he could catch Anderson by the time his contract expires.