The Kansas City Chiefs placed starting kicker Harrison Butker on injured reserve due to a knee injury.
This means Butker won’t play for the next four weeks and won’t be able to return until Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns.
Butker going to IR means he will miss Kansas City’s mega-AFC game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
To fill the vacancy, the Chiefs signed Spencer Shrader from the Jets practice squad to their 53-man roster.
It’s unclear who Butker was injured as he played in Sunday’s win over the Denver Broncos.
In a pinch, the Chiefs have used safety Justin Reid as a backup. The duration of Butker’s injury appears to have forced the team to call in a specialist.
The Kansas City Chiefs have placed Harrison Butker on injured reserve due to a knee injury
Butker will be replaced by Spencer Shrader, who was signed off the New York Jets practice squad
Butker detailed his views on gender roles for men and women at Benedictine College
Shrader is an NFL rookie who went undrafted this year and spent time with the Colts before landing in New York.
Butker’s injury timeline has him back on the field for the long season and the playoffs.
The Chiefs are the NFL’s only undefeated team at 9-0 and are in control of determining their own destiny in the playoffs.
Butker has been the Chiefs’ kicker for all three Super Bowl victories since 2020.
Butker signed a four-year contract worth $25.6 million, including $17.8 million in guaranteed money, making him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.
Butker’s injury comes six months after he made headlines for a controversial speech at Benedictine College in Kansas.
The Chiefs long-term kicker urged men to ‘fight against cultural emasculation’ and claimed women are destined to be ‘housewives’.
Butker’s speech was full of his conservative views, not only on gender roles, but also on abortion and vaccines.