Pittsburgh Steelers: Chris Boswell’s extension well worth the money

The Pittsburgh Steelers locked up kicker Chris Boswell through the 2022 season, a decision that will pay dividends for the rest of his career.

If you’re from Pittsburgh, you’re most certainly aware of Roger Wood and his infamous song, “Here We Go” that has become the unofficial right song of those who bleed black and gold everywhere. If you’ve been living under a rock or simply out of touch with the city, Wood boasts about individual Pittsburgh Steelers players and what they do for the team over a catchy chorus, changing the words to match the current year’s roster.

There’s a line in the tune where Woods says, “and if we don’t get it, in the end-zone, we’ll get three points off of Boswell’s toe!”

Luckily for Woods, that bar in the song won’t need to be touched any time in the coming future.

Pro-Bowl kicker Chris Boswell agreed to a five-year deal earlier this week that will keep Boswell in Pittsburgh through the 2022 season. With the ink still wet on his fresh contract, Boswell only sits behind Stephen Gostkowski, Graham Gano and Justin Tucker in average dough per year, raking in a nice $4.175 million per season, according to Spotrac.com

Following the failed Josh Scobee experiment, Boswell was signed and has never looked back, kicking his way into the upper-echelon of the men at his positions. Time after time, Boswell has come through for the Steelers when they needed him the most, knocking down multiple clutch kicks down the stretch of each of the past few seasons.

Special teams are often times the forgotten third phase in the game of football. Due to their limited time on the field, it’s understandable. Yet a few well placed punts or clutch kicks could ultimately be the difference between playing at home in the playoffs, or watching at home on the couch.

Place-kickers come and go, as it’s rare to find a boot that is reliable, consistent and clutch when you need them to be. Boswell, much to his credit, retains all three of the listed attributes, as he was the difference between a 13-3 record or a 10-6 record in 2017.

There are those in Pittsburgh who are quick to point out Boswell was signed before current absentee Le’Veon Bell. While that’s true, it’s as if fans are trying to paint a picture of incompetence within the front office. Bell’s value is far and away higher as a running back, yet it appeared Boswell wasn’t trying to completely reset the kicking market.

The play speaks for itself, as Boswell has connected on 85 of 95 kicks as a member of the Steelers, while also going 6-8 on kicks over 50 yards and tying the record for the longest kick made in Heinz Field history at 53 yards, a notoriously difficult place to convert field goals.

Let’s go ahead and make Chris Boswell an official member of the “Killer B’s”, if we haven’t already. Boswell has been nothing but money since he first strapped up his helmet in Pittsburgh, it’s only right he’s compensated that way.