After a handful of All-Pro seasons as the Las Vegas Raiders' kicker, Daniel Carlson started to see his efficiency dwindle. The Auburn product never had the biggest leg in the NFL, but he was accurate, consistent and clutch, fully earning the nickname "Cash Money Carlson."
But following a few down campaigns, the analytics agreed with the Raiders' decision to move on from Carlson this past offseason. Unfortunately, though, they replaced him with Matt Gay, who looked worse on paper, and a rookie UDFA in Kansei Matsuzawa, who still needs to develop quite a bit.
Through a few weeks of training camp practices, reports from Las Vegas indicate that the kicking battle isn't really panning out how the team would like. So, perhaps the Silver and Black need to keep the light on for their old friend Carlson, who may be an upgrade over Gay or Matsuzawa right now.
Raiders' kicker struggles in camp could push them to bring back Daniel Carlson
Based on a myriad of reports from training camp, Gay is the first-team kicker over Matsuzawa, but he isn't exactly impressing with his accuracy or range. He's enjoyed two perfect practices, one in which he drilled a 52-yarder, but other than that, Gay has had some sort of snafu every day.
Early in camp, he missed a 52-yarder, which is far from a gimme, but isn't ideal. NFL kickers are making 60+ yarders in games with consistency now, so the Raiders can't afford to have a kicker missing from the 35-yard line at practice.
In the last few days, Gay has missed from 35 yards (on a narrow crossbar, to be fair) and from 40 during a live practice at Allegiant Stadium. A whiff from the 23-yard line is simply unacceptable, as that is only a few yards back from an extra point.
Matsuzawa hasn't been any better, as he's missed from 35 yards and 38 yards, as well as 40 yards on three occasions. He has also missed from 55 and 62 yards, giving further credence to the concern that he didn't have a strong enough leg to be an NFL kicker.
To his credit, Matsuzawa has knocked in a 52- and 57-yarder, and he put his accuracy on display by having a perfect session on the narrow crossbar. But he has failed to connect on far too many gimmies with the regular uprights, so that is a reason for concern.
Gay is the clear frontrunner here, which is fine, as The Tokyo Toe still needs time to develop. But Gay hasn't kicked well enough to warrant a surefire spot on the team, even if he knows John Spytek and special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis well from previous stops.
Carlson was at his lowest point last season, only making 81.5% of his kicks. To be fair, however, it was a small sample size of just 27 kicks, and a handful were blocked, which doesn't really fall on him. He also netted a game-winning 60-yarder on the final play of the 2025 NFL season.
It may be a bit awkward to go crawling back to Carlson at this point after letting him walk in free agency, but the veteran kicker still needs a home. Other options may be out there for Carlson, but none have materialized yet, so if the Raiders came calling, he'd surely pick up.
Results during the preseason will matter a lot when it comes to this kicking competition between Gay and Matsuzawa. But if neither separates himself and the struggles continue, then Las Vegas needs to leave the light on for Carlson and put a key under the mat for him.
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