Panthers’ Eddy Piñeiro ranked as top-10 NFL kicker
He’s not called “Steady Eddy” for nothing.
Carolina Panthers kicker Eddy Piñeiro was just ranked one of the league’s very best boots by CBS Sports. Writer John Breech sticks the 27-year-old, who keeps true to his nickname, in at No. 10:
Pineiro has quietly been one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL over the past two seasons. After going 8 of 8 during a short stint with the Jets in 2021, Pineiro latched on with the Panthers in 2022 and proved that his perfect season wasn’t a fluke. Pineiro hit 94.3% of his field goals last season (33 of 35), which was the second-highest conversion rate in the NFL. Over the past two seasons, Pineiro has hit 95.3% of his field goal attempts, which makes him the NFL’s most accurate kicker since the start of the 2021 season.
Unfortunately for Piñeiro, one of those two misses came at a particularly bad moment—during overtime of Carolina’s Week 8 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. His missed 32-yard try, which was preceded by a missed extra point try to finish off regulation, took a huge victory away from the Panthers and handed it to their NFC South rivals.
Nonetheless, Piñeiro bounced back for a remarkable end to his 2022 campaign—one that included his second career NFC Special Teams Player of the Week nod and a game-winner in the season finale in New Orleans.
And thanks to that impressive season, Piñeiro is back on a new two-year, $4.1 million deal.
