Jaguars Waive Kicker Matthew Wright

The Jaguars have made a surprise move, waiving kicker Matthew Wright ahead of training camp.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to have a new kicker in 2022, with the franchise waiving 2021 starter Matthew Wright on Wednesday. 

The Jaguars now have two kickers left on the roster in Ryan Santoso and Andrew Mevis. Wright was the lone kicker on Jacksonville's roster this offseason who was with the team in 2021. 

Wright appeared in 14 games for the Jaguars last season after signing with the team during Josh Lambo's poor start to the season.

The Jaguars released Lambo on Oct. 19 last season after he started the preseason in a slump and continued throughout the regular season, eventually being replaced by Wright after a Week 6 game-winner by the former UCF and Pittsburgh Steelers kicker.

Wright was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week against the Miami Dolphins in the Jaguars' 23-20 win in London, snapping the Jaguars' franchise-record 20-game losing streak. Wright was 3-of-3 on field goals against Miami (40, 54, 53), making the game-tying kick and the game-winning kick within 4:00 of each other.

Wright made 21-of-24 field goals (87.5%) in 2021 and made 13-of-15 extra points. He was 7-of-10 from kicks of 40 yards or longer and made a 56-yard field goal, but Wright consistently failed to boom kickoffs into the end-zone, resulting in several big returns down the stretch of the season. 

The Jaguars ended the year as one of the league's worst kickoff coverage teams, in part because few kickers kicked touchbacks as infrequently as Wright.

Santoso, 26, signed with the team this offseason and has appeared in seven games throughout his career with the Titans, Panthers and Lions. During that time, Santoso has made 4-of-5 field goals and 6-of-8 extra point attempts.

Mevis was 32-of-32 on extra-point attempts for Iowa State last year and made 20-of-23 field goals.