Falcons, kicker Younghoe Koo agree to five-year, $24.5M extension

The Falcons are set to retain one of the league’s best kickers. According NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the team is re-signing Younghoe Koo to a five-year, $24.25M extension (Twitter link). He adds that there is $11.5M in guaranteed money. 

At an average value of $4.85M per season, the deal ranks second in the league amongst kickers, behind only Justin Tucker‘s at $5M. It marks quite the raise for Koo, who was a pending restricted free agent.

Coming into the league as an undrafted free agent, Koo started his career with the Chargers. After only four games there and a brief stint on the Patriots’ practice squad, he landed in Atlanta. That has certainly turned into a worthwhile decision for both sides.

The 27-year-old has become of the top kickers in the game over three seasons with the Falcons. In 2021, he ranked third in the league with a field goal percentage of 93.1%. For the first time in Atlanta, he was also perfect on extra-point attempts, going 30-for-30. Over the course of his career, Koo has only missed 14 total kicks out of 191 combined attempts.

While there are plenty of question marks surrounding the offense, the Falcons will at least retain a core element of their scoring for the foreseeable future.