The Atlanta Falcons have released star kicker Younghoe Koo following a costly error from Week 1 of the NFL season.
Koo, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, missed a 44-yard field goal which would have tied Atlanta’s first game of the season against the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The following week, Koo was benched and the Falcons elevated kicker Parker Romo from the practice squad.
Koo is seventh among active players for the best career field-goal accuracy (with at least 100 kicks) and is 15th all-time in NFL history for field-goal accuracy.
He previously was a member of the Los Angeles Chargers and was cut from the team in the 2017 season after missing consecutive kicks.
After spending some time in the short-lived Alliance of American Football, he joined the New England Patriots’ practice squad in 2019.
The Atlanta Falcons have released kicker Younghoe Koo after benching him this season
Koo was replaced in Week 2 after missing a field goal which would have tied their Week 1 game
Koo was released that October and signed days later with Atlanta, where he had played up until his cut today.
In the 2020 season, Koo led the league in field goals made and was the highest scoring player in the NFL. That earned him a Pro Bowl nod.
After converting 93 percent of his field goal attempts in 2021, he held a conversion rate of 86.5 percent in both 2022 and 2023.
Last season, Koo struggled – converting only 73.5 percent of his field goal attempts.
The Seoul-born, New Jersey-raised Koo was a star at Georgia Southern in his college days and went undrafted out of school.
Koo leaves the Falcons as the third-leading scorer in franchise history behind fellow kickers Matt Bryant and Morten Andersen.
