San Francisco 49ers land kicker through trade with Panthers

Gonzalez has not kicked in the NFL since 2021. A former seventh-round pick for the Browns in 2017 out of Arizona State, he spent just over a year in Cleveland, but was waived after 18 games having managed just a 68 percent field goal conversation rate. He also missed three of his 31 extra-point attempts that season.  

After subsequently joining the Arizona Cardinals, Gonzalez was signed to the team’s practice squad before being elevated to fill in for an injured Phil Dawson. Gonzalez’s performance in substitute duty was strong enough that he was given a new contract to stay in the desert. He remained the Cardinals’ kicker in 2019 and heading into 2020. Late into the 2020 season, though, Gonzalez caught the injury bug, a trip to injured reserve to close the season and an eventual release.

Gonzalez spent three weeks with Detroit during the 2021 preseason before the Lions shifted him to their practice squad. After letting go of Ryan Santoso, who kicked for Carolina in Week 1 last fall, the Panthers signed Gonzalez off the Lions’ practice squad.

Gonzalez would work as starting place-kicker for the Panthers until suffering a quad injury during warmups ahead of a Week 15 game in Buffalo. The team was forced to play without a kicker during the contest and depended on Lirim Hajrullahu for the remainder of the year.

In Carolina’s final game of the 2022 preseason, Gonzalez once again injured his quad in warmups, forcing him to miss the entire season. The next day, Carolina signed kicker Eddy Pineiro to fill in for the remainder of the campaign. Pineiro played very well in Charlotte, going 33-for-35 on field goal attempts and 30-for-32 in extra points and was rewarded this spring with a two-year contract extension to remain the Panthers’ kicker, effectively marking the end of Gonzalez’s tenure in Carolina.

Instead of just releasing Gonzalez, the Panthers have been able to get at least some value for the superfluous special teamer in the form of San Francisco’s late 2025 draft pick. The 49ers were in need of a solution at placekicker following Gould’s departure. 

Enter Gonzalez. The 27-year-old is coming off his strongest season, making 20-of-22 field goals in 2021, but is also coming back from a severe injury that held him out of the entire 2022 season.

If Gonzalez can shake off the injury bug, he has promise to become the next franchise kicker in San Francisco.