If we’re not counting firing Raheem Morris, signing Zane Gonzalez was the best move the Atlanta Falcons made all season. After dealing with the inconsistency of Younghoe Koo and Parker Romo, Gonzalez came in and immediately improved the Falcons’ kicking game that struggled beforehand.

The veteran kicker is set to be a free agent this offseason, and the Falcons badly need to retain him. The difference between Gonzalez and the two kickers that started before him was like night and day, and every metric backs that up–including one that was created by FanSided’s own Adam Fromal.

Fromal created a new kicking metric known as Kick Value Added (KVA), which is built to be a fairer algorithm. Instead of treating all makes and misses equally, it assesses a kicker’s value relative to league expectations all over the field, so a chip shot and a 55-yarder aren’t worth the same amount.

While both Koo and Romo unsurprisingly ranked inside the bottom 10 in the NFL in KVA, the 30-year-old was on the superior side of history. In fact, Gonzalez ranked 13th among all kickers with a 4.1579 KVA, which should be the latest evidence he has more than earned a long-term extension in Atlanta.

Extending Zane Gonzalez needs to be at the top of Ian Cunningham’s priority list

Gonzalez made 19 of 22 field goals and 17 of 18 extra points this season, which is pretty impressive for a guy who hadn’t been a full-time starting kicker since 2021. It’s sad that the Dirty Birds had three kickers listed, but at least they finally ended the revolving door with one of the league’s best kickers.

Fromal noted that three of the Arizona State product’s four total misses this season hit a defender, which isn’t entirely on him. Had Nick Emmanwoori, Jared Verse, and Calais Campbell not got a hand on his kicks, his major bounce-back season with the Falcon would have been even better than it was.

Had all three of those attempts went through the uprights, he would have been posted a top five campaign with an impressive 11.1441 KVA. Fromal also added that Gonzalez led the NFL with an average make distance of 44.95 yards, which checks out given he made seven of nine from deep.

Given how bad Koo was in just one game and how Romo never showed up in clutch time, it makes what Gonzalez accomplished even wilder– especially after three years off. And that means he’s more than earned the payday Falcons fans are hoping Ian Cunningham awards him with in free agency.