Former Minnesota Gophers Kicker Heads to Atlanta
Josh Frey
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A bit over a year after Younghoe Koo landed a five-year contract worth $24.5 million with the Atlanta Falcons, it appears that they are attempting to find themselves a backup security plan at the kicker position. On Friday, they signed former Minnesota Gophers kicker Matthew Trickett to his own long-term contract, inking a three-year deal with the team.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport announced the deal, “After working out at mandatory minicamp, the Falcons are signing former Minnesota kicker Matthew Trickett to a 3-year contract, source said. He can take some kicks off Bradley Pinion and Younghoe Koo in the preseason and ATL can work to develop him.”
Trickett spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Gophers after beginning his collegiate career at Kent State. During those two seasons, he made 32-of-43 field goal attempts and hit 82-of-84 extra-point attempts. In all, he was a 79% field goal kicker (making 79-of-100 kicks) over five years between Kent State and Minnesota.
Now, the former Gopher will likely spend the foreseeable future on Atlanta’s practice squad, considering Koo is one of the very best kickers in the league. The 28-year-old made 32-of-37 field goals during 2022 for the Falcons, including hitting 7-of-11 from 50+ yards away.
This is a rather unusual move by the Falcons, securing multiple kickers to long-term contracts. However, if they see something in Trickett either as a place-kicker or perhaps as a kickoff man with the new rules being put in place this year, perhaps this is an experiment that will become a relatively regular sight in the coming years.
Trickett is currently 23 years of age.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.