The Washington Commanders moved quickly to replace kicker Matt Gay after a terrible performance in a Week 11 loss to the Miami Dolphins, signing former third round pick Jake Moody off the Bears practice squad on November 17.
Moody will get some extra time to prepare for his debut, with the Commanders in a bye in Week 12 before returning home to face the AFC West’s first place team in the Denver Broncos in Week 13.
Moody goes from an NFC contender to a team in turmoil.
The Commanders entered the season as legitimate Super Bowl contenders but have seen a series of injuries and poor play derail them almost from the jump. The loss to the Dolphins was their seventh consecutive defeat and dropped them to 3-8 overall.
Commanders fans should be familiar with Moody. He set the Bears franchise record for a kicker’s first game with 4 field goals in a 25-24 win over the Commanders in Week 6, including a game winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.
“Chicago Bears kicker Jake Moody’s signature moment of the 2025 season came against the Washington Commanders back in October,” Bears Wire’s Brandon Sugrue wrote. “Now, he gets the opportunity to become their starting kicker for the rest of the season.”
Moody Victim of Circumstance This Season
The Bears were trying to stash a kicker on their practice squad with Moody — a kicker most team would want in their lineup — because they have another ace kicker with Cairo Santos.
Santos is 5-of-7 on field goals beyond 50 yards this season and leads the NFL in PAT percentage — he’s hit 21-of-21 extra point attempts so far.
Moody was the rare early round draft pick for a kicker, with the San Francisco 49ers taking him in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Michigan.
There’s some irony with Moody coming to the Commanders, because the thing most people remember about Moody’s career occurred with the 49ers and had to do with current Washington wide receiver Deebo Samuel — and could lead to a few awkward locker room moments.
Moody’s undoing in San Francisco started with an unwitting confrontation with Samuel during the 2024 season.
“Samuel’s frustration with his and the team’s struggles boiled over a couple of times in 2024,” ESPN’s John Keim wrote in March 2025. “In a November win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Samuel confronted kicker Jake Moody after his third missed field goal of the game. When long snapper Taybor Pepper stepped in to defend Moody, it led to a back-and-forth with some small shoves before the sides were separated.”
One Thing Was Clear: Gay Had To Go
Whatever happens with Moody the rest of the way, the key here seems to be that he’s not Matt Gay.
“The Commanders have released K Matt Gay, who missed two FGs on Sunday,” the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
It came as little surprise to anyone who watched Gay’s struggles this season from where NFL teams need kickers most — he was 4-of-9 for the season on field goals 50 yards or longer.
Against the Dolphins, Gay missed a 56-yard field goal attempt with 10 seconds left which would have won the game for the Commanders.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Commanders New Kicker Has Bad History With All-Pro WR Deebo Samuel appeared first on Heavy Sports.