The Buffalo Bills have released Stephen Hauschka, their starting kicker since 2017, the team announced Thursday, nearly a year to the day after giving him a two-year contract extension.
Buffalo selected Georgia Southern kicker Tyler Bass in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, sparking a position battle that took about a month to resolve.
Hauschka won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013 and signed with the Bills four years later, scoring 87.9% of his kicks in his first season at Buffalo. He has, however, achieved 78.6% of his field goals in each of his last two seasons, including just 41.7% of his attempts for 50 yards or more.
His 50+ yard accuracy ranks last out of 11 kickers to attempt at least 10 field goals from that distance over the past two seasons.
The Bills granted Hauschka a two-year extension on August 28, 2019. He spent six seasons as a Seattle starting kicker after stints in Baltimore and Denver.
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