Chiefs Place K Cairo Santos On IR

The Chiefs announced that they have placed kicker Cairo Santos on IR. To take his place, the team has signed kicker Harrison Butker off of the Panthers’ practice squad. Cairo Santos (vertical)

The reason for Santos’ placement on IR is not immediately clear. He struggled with a groin pull in the summer, so it’s possible that he reaggravated that injury.

The ball gets heavier (when it rains) and I just felt sore,” Santos said in early September (via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star). “The next time I kicked, it just got worse and worse until I felt a pop on one of practice kicks. That’s when I knew something was wrong with it.”

Santos, 26 in November, was perfect through three games. He nailed all three of his field goal tries and made 100% of his extra point attempts.

Earlier this year, the Panthers were receiving calls of trade interest in kicker Graham Gano, leading to speculation that they could move him for a draft pick and stick with Butker. That wasn’t the case as the Panthers cut Butker on Sept. 13, though they did re-sign him to the taxi squad. He’ll now get his opportunity to shine in KC.

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