In Pittsburgh, kickers don’t get goodwill. The fanbase that grew up on Steel Curtain football has never fully warmed up to the position. And when you miss while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, you hear about it loudly. Chris Boswell has been managing that pressure since he walked into Pittsburgh in 2015. In 11 seasons since then, he has gotten to a rare place: when he misses, it is the headline. On Monday, May 11th, the Steelers paid to match that production.
“Steelers have agreed to terms with K Chris Boswell on a four-year, $28 million extension,” Adam Schefter reported on X. “The $7 million average per year ties him with Brandon Aubrey for the highest-paid kicker in the NFL history, per CAA Football. Boswell is now locked in with the Steelers through the 2030 season.”
Brandon Aubrey was the first kicker in NFL history to reach this number back in April. His four-year extension with the Dallas Cowboys notably has $20 million in guarantees. Boswell’s deal, per Spotrac, includes $14.7 million guaranteed. This season, he will get an estimated base salary of $3.12 million and carry a $4.7 million cap hit for the Steelers. And the veteran kicker has the numbers to back up this massive new deal.
Steelers have agreed to terms with K Chris Boswell on a four-year, $28 million extension. The $7 million average per year ties him with Brandon Aubrey for highest paid kicker in NFL history, per CAA Football. Boswell is now locked in with the Steelers through the 2030 season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 11, 2026
Boswell’s career field goal percentage of 87.7% ranks among the best in NFL history. In the playoffs, he’s made 19 consecutive field goals to start his postseason career. That streak includes a single-game NFL record of six field goals against the Kansas City Chiefs in January 2017, scoring all of Pittsburgh’s 18 points. To top it all off, Boswell posted a 90%-plus completion rate in seven of his eleven seasons.
In the AFC North, where late-season weather is a factor every year, that track record has made him the most dependable part of Pittsburgh’s offense for a decade. That’s the legacy Pittsburgh is paying big money for now.
Schefter, meanwhile, had also broken the news of Chris Boswell’s contract on the Pat McAfee Show. McAfee, upon hearing the news, noted the gap between the two highest-paid kickers. Boswell has been in the league for 11 years, and Aubrey is entering his fourth. Still, the Cowboys reset the market with him first in April. Naturally, the Steelers then made sure Boswell matched that standard immediately.
Now, locking up Boswell is a solved problem in an offseason that has more open questions than answers. The one that matters most—who is under center—still doesn’t have a clear resolution.
The Steelers, a “fringe playoff team”?
“I think, with Aaron as their starting quarterback, they are a fringe playoff team,” Orlovsky said. “I think they’re a 9-win team with Aaron. … And I get it because there’s Cam Heyward, and TJ Watt, and Jalen Ramsey… obviously two longtime Steeler veterans, Hall of Famers, all three of them, they want to win now.”
The 2025 season certainly backed him up. Rodgers completed 65.7% of his passes with 24 touchdowns against seven picks in the regular season. Pittsburgh won the AFC North and later lost 30-6 to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round. In that game, Rodgers went 17-of-33, losing a fumble and throwing an interception.
The “win now” argument for Rodgers rests on Watt, Heyward, and Ramsey running out of time. While that provides the team with a certain fire, it was true last season as well. Rodgers had one of the NFL’s better defenses behind him this January, and the Texans subdued it by halftime. A fringe playoff ceiling is not a case for handing the same quarterback another year, and that’s the very case Orlovsky makes.
“And so for this team, this 2026 version, the best thing is to have a quarterback as good as Aaron playing,” Orlovsky said. “But for the organization, it’s not, because you’re just going to be picking at 20 again.”
Meanwhile, the situation around Rodgers’ 2026 future hasn’t clarified one bit. Initial reports suggested he was going to meet the Steelers last week to finalize a deal for the new season. The Steelers have already placed the franchise tender on him, and he only needs to show up and sign it. But Steelers insider Gerry Dulac has shared a concerning update recently.
“Aaron Rodgers has been in town for a couple days,” Dulac reported. “But the Steelers have not met with him yet and instead have been talking with his agent. Rodgers has stayed away from the team’s South Side facility while the three-day rookie minicamp has been going on.”
The Steelers have signed Chris Boswell through 2030. He will kick field goals in Pittsburgh long after this current quarterback situation resolves. Either Aaron Rodgers finally shows up again, or the QB room falls to Will Howard, Drew Allar, and Mason Rudolph. Whatever the case, given how slowly this situation is moving, we might still be far away from an answer.
