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Bucs sign placekicker Cairo Santos

 
The Bucs are signing kicker Cairo Santos, according to a NFL Network report.
The Bucs are signing kicker Cairo Santos, according to a NFL Network report.
Published Nov. 13, 2018|Updated Nov. 13, 2018

TAMPA — The Bucs signed placekicker Cairo Santos to replace Chandler Catanzaro, the team announced Monday night.

Santos will become the Bucs' seventh placekicker since the beginning of the 2015 season.

He owns a 84.1 field-goal conversion percentage over parts of five NFL seasons. Most recently, he had a two-game stint with the Los Angeles Rams last month, making 5 of 6 field-goal attempts and going 5-for-6 on extra-point attempts.

The Bucs will be Santos' fifth team since the beginning of the 2017 season.

Santos posted a tweet Monday night — which is his 27th birthday — with a photo of him signing his contract wearing a Bucs cap.

The team worked out Santos three weeks ago after Catanzaro missed a field goal and extra point — but made a 57-yard game-winning field goal  in overtimes — against Cleveland.

Santos was the Chiefs' primary kicker for three years from 2014 to '16, making 84.3 percent of his field-goal attempts (86-for-102) over that stretch.

Injuries then derailed Santos' career. His 2017 season was slowed by a groin injury, but he still make four of five field goals with the Chiefs and Bears.

He opened camp with the Jets this season, but was cut late in the preseason, and latched on with the Rams for two weeks last month, but was released once starter Greg Zuerlein returned from injury.

Catanzaro was cut by the Bucs on Monday afternoon one day after missing two field goals in the Bucs' 16-3 loss to Washington. He made 11 of 15 field goal attempts through eight games, also missing four extra-point attempts.

NFL Network first reported the Bucs were signing Santos.

Contact Eduardo A. Encina at eencina@tampabay.com. Follow @EddieInTheYard