If the 2024 season taught the New York Giants anything, it’s that the kicking game is clearly a crucial part of any team. Unfortunately, injuries played a major role in that area, especially to one of the better long-time kickers in the league.
When New York brought Graham Gano back in 2020, he was a bit of a question mark, having missed the entire 2019 season after spending seven years with the Carolina Panthers. Most fans will remember Gano for making the game-winning 63-yard field goal to beat Big Blue back in 2018. With Carolina, Gano was an 85 percent accurate field goal kicker who was very clutch. So when he came to East Rutherford—even at 33 years old and after missing a full season—Gano was even better.
In his first three seasons with the G-Men, Gano only missed 8 of the 97 field goals he attempted (91.7 field goal percentage). That percentage is what earned Gano a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension before the start of the 2023 season. Given how automatic and clutch he was, it was money well earned. Unfortunately, the Giants weren’t prepared for the injuries that Gano has dealt with since 2023.
Graham Gano's shine is fading fast entering 2025
Gano was struggling with a knee injury—one that hampered his accuracy on the field—as he went from a 90 percent accuracy kicker in 2022 down to 64 percent, making just 11 of 17 field goals. He ended up needing season-ending knee surgery and missed the final nine games of the 2023 season. In 2024, Gano suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2 that landed him on injured reserve for the next seven weeks.
He still managed to finish with an 81.8 percent field goal accuracy and a long of 53 yards. But the injuries have made people wonder if the Giants can continue to count on the veteran going forward.
With two years left on his current deal, Gano was listed as a potential roster cut and salary cap casualty heading into the 2025 offseason. But the Giants haven’t gone that route, even with second-year kicker Jude McAtamney on the roster, who briefly handled kicking duties in 2024 when Gano was sidelined with the hamstring injury. Some are now wondering what to expect from the 38-year-old veteran heading into the 2025 season.
Stephen Lebitsch of Sports Illustrated believes Gano will rebound from two injury-plagued seasons and return to being one of the league’s better kickers, as he was during his first three years with New York.
“Seeing a trend like this from a player way past his prime and the Giants’ midseason replacements struggling to pick up the slack, the team could have a question mark at one of their most valuable positions as they head into training camp and see how Gano looks after recovering all offseason. Much like Adam Vinatieri, who launched footballs through the uprights way past the age of 40, Gano still believes he has some juice left in the tank, or better, his legs. So do we, and one need not look further than the veteran’s resume to see the capability of producing a bounce-back campaign.”
It’s not uncommon for kickers to continue their careers into their 40s, and Adam Vinatieri is a prime example—kicking until he was 47 and maintaining field goal accuracy in the mid-80s. The Giants would absolutely sign up for at least another two seasons of Gano being that effective, if possible.
Back in the 2023 season, the Giants had 39-year-old Mason Crosby handle kicking duties for the final three games. Before coming off the couch to kick for the Giants, Crosby was a Hall of Fame-caliber kicker for the Packers, finishing with nearly 87 percent accuracy as a 38-year-old in 2022. He went 5-for-7 on field goals with a long of 52 yards during his brief stint with the team. While the 71 percent doesn’t seem impressive, Crosby didn’t miss much—he simply wasn’t there long. Even with limited time to prepare, he was still effective as an older kicker.
And for the older Giants fans who want to go back even further than Vinatieri and Crosby, there’s another former Giants kicker and Hall of Famer: Morten Andersen. He kicked until he was 47 years old and was with the Giants back in 2001. At 41, Andersen posted an 82 percent field goal accuracy that season.
So if Gano can stay healthy, there’s no reason to think he can’t continue to be an effective kicker in 2025 and give the team quality field goal production, just as he has throughout his career, especially during his time with the Giants. We’ve seen the quality of the kicking game drop when Gano is sidelined, so the Giants will be counting on him to stay on the field. When he’s healthy and locked in, Gano is still one of the better kickers in the league, and the team will need him if it wants any chance at success in 2025.