The 49ers are back in familiar territory: a kicking crisis, and now a pricey one.
Eddy Piñeiro’s latest miss came in Sunday’s 29-20 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta, when he pushed an extra point wide midway through the fourth quarter. It was a damaging mistake because it left San Francisco down six, 26-20, instead of keeping the game within one score. Once Atlanta added a late field goal, the 49ers were effectively out of comeback range.
That miss was only part of the broader frustration. San Francisco’s first loss of 2026 came with plenty of self-inflicted wounds, from a defense that racked up penalties to four offensive turnovers, including two Brock Purdy interceptions in the second half. But Piñeiro put himself right in the middle of the discussion with another costly miss.
He’s now up to seven missed kicks this season: four extra points and three field goals. Two of those extra-point misses came in a Week 3 win over the Cardinals, and another came Monday night against the Commanders. This week, Kyle Shanahan has been brief when discussing the kicking situation, signaling that he expects Piñeiro to cash in the opportunities he gets.
The 49ers thought they had addressed the problem when they brought Piñeiro in last year. In 14 games, he missed just one field goal and four extra points, enough for San Francisco to commit to him on a four-year, $17 million contract that included $10 million guaranteed - including every dollar of his 2026 and 2027 salaries.
Now the question is whether the team can afford to move on. OverTheCap says releasing Piñeiro right away would leave nearly $6 million in dead money on the cap. His current cap hit is $1.95 million, so San Francisco would need to use a little more than $4 million of its available room to cut him loose.
The 49ers do have the NFL’s largest cap reserve, with more than $42 million available, according to OverTheCap. But burning about 10% of that to dump a kicker on the active roster is not an ideal use of resources. Even so, if the staff loses faith in Piñeiro making the kicks that matter, that could still be the path they choose.
For now, the 49ers have a little breathing room to sort it out. Their bye week gives them extra time before their next game, Nov. 8 at home against the Raiders.
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