As Texans fans look ahead to the 2025 NFL season, one of the biggest advantages Houston will have is their relative lack of strength of their division. The AFC South has long been one of the weaker divisions in the NFL, with no team winning over ten games over the last three seasons. As a result, the Texans will once again begin the season as the clear-cut favorites to clinch the division title.
Big questions surround their division rivals, up and down their rosters. On Thursday, the Indianapolis Colts just added another question to their offseason agenda by releasing veteran kicker Matt Gay.
We have released K Matt Gay.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) April 10, 2025
NFL News: Colts Release K Matt Gay in Surprise Move
The Colts signed Gay to a massive four-year extension in the 2023 offseason, making him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history at the time. Prior to arriving in Indy, Gay was considered an elite kicker, but his production with the Colts has been nowhere near that level.
In 2024, the veteran kicker converted 83.8% of his field goal attempts, a mark slightly below the league average. However, he didn't miss a single extra-point attempt. In contrast, Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn made 85.7% of his field goal attempts and went 34/36 on extra-point attempts.
While Gay wasn't able to live up to the hype he created during his time with the Rams, he is still a competent veteran with Super Bowl experience under his belt. There is absolutely no guarantee that the Colts will find a better option than Gay, either through the draft or free agency. The fact that Gay is nowhere close to being a bottom-tier kicker in the league makes this decision rather surprising.
The Colts will likely be the biggest challenger to Houston in the division in 2025, but they now have yet another hole they need to fill before the season.