Graham Gano has given the Giants some kicker stability during the 2020s, but the team will need to pivot to another option soon. Gano’s knee injury will sideline him for a while.
The recently extended kicker is set to undergo knee surgery and will land on IR, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who adds the team will replace Gano with Randy Bullock. The veteran kicker joined Mason Crosby, Robbie Gould and Matthew Wright in working out for the Giants on Thursday, per ex-Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes.
Bullock, whom ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes will initially join the Giants’ practice squad, has not kicked in a game this season. Amid a February salary purge, the Titans released Bullock. But he will bring 10 years’ experience. Bullock, 33, kicked for the Titans for the past two seasons. While Bullock has bounced around the league, this will mark a reunion. During his 2010s travels, Bullock stopped through New York in 2016, kicking in one game with the Giants.
Gano signed a three-year, $16.5M Giants extension in September; the 36-year-old specialist has been the Giants’ kicker since 2020. Gano acknowledged recently he will need surgery at some point. Rather than playing through this issue any longer, Gano will go under the knife soon. The veteran kicker is coming off a two-miss performance in an ugly Giants loss to the Giants; the second of those misses came from 35 yards out. Gano, who also missed a 47-yarder in Week 8, could have effectively sealed a Giants win by making the shorter try late in the fourth quarter. The Jets instead rallied back to tie the game and force overtime. The former Washington and Carolina kicker had hoped to finish out the season and then undergo surgery, per Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, but the Jets outing appears to have changed plans.
On the season, Gano is just 11-for-17. The Giants guaranteed the 15th-year veteran $11.34M at signing, providing an opportunity for the incumbent to reclaim his job once recovered. For now, Bullock will receive another opportunity. The former Texans fifth-round pick has kicked for six teams, also suiting up for the Bengals, Steelers and Jets during his run.
Bullock finished his two Titans seasons with 84 percent and 85 percent field goal accuracy rates. He is not necessarily known for prolific long-range success, having not made more than three 50-plus-yard field goals in a season since 2014. But the Giants preferred Bullock to Wright and the more experienced options they brought in Thursday.
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