The Kansas City Chiefs’ solution at kicker has left the New York Jets scrambling for answers.

On Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Chiefs would be placing kicker Harrison Butker on the injured reserve list with a left knee injury. The 29-year-old – who’s converted on 18-of-20 field goal attempts this season – is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery, which will sideline him for at least the next four games.

It didn’t take long for Kansas City to find a replacement, as the Chiefs announced they’d signed Spencer Shrader off the Jets’ practice squad shortly after news of Butker’s injury broke. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, New York did all it could to try and convince the 25-year-old to stay put in the Big Apple.

Prior to his departure, Shrader was offered a spot on New York’s 53-man roster but ultimately decided to join the last undefeated team in the NFL for four – perhaps more – games rather than play out the season with the 3-7 Jets.

To add insult to injury, Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer heaped praise on Shrader less than 30 minutes before his union with the Chiefs was made public. Discussing the kicker’s performance in Week 10 – during which he cashed both of his field goal attempts and scored all of New York’s points in a 31-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals – he told reporters: “Kid’s got a lot of talent. I think he handled it well, doing what we asked him to do and syncing up with those guys and doing a good job in the game.

“He’s a young guy that has shown that he’s got a really good leg. He had shown it in his college tape and his preseason stuff,” Boyer later added. “And so sometimes, just like any opportunity you never know what you’re gonna get until you throw him out there and see what happens.”

The Kansas City Chiefs placed Harrison Butker on the injured reserve with a knee injury

The Kansas City Chiefs placed Harrison Butker on the injured reserve with a knee injury ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

Taking to social media, droves of fans poked fun at Shrader’s apparent rejection of the Jets. “Breaking news. Everyone is getting away from this organization as soon as possible,” one X user wrote, with another adding: “Who can blame the guy? I wouldn’t want to be in a 15-mile radius of Florham Park if i’m a player.”

A third argued: “Having 4 games to show the league what you can or can’t do, especially with the Chiefs, is better than being on the 53 with the Jets. Who wants to play for a dumpster fire organization with a delusional QB running the show?”

In the absence of Shrader, the Jets are expected to hand the kicking duties over to Anders Carlson, who would become the fourth kicker to suit up for the Jets in as many games as Greg Zuerlein, Riley Patterson, and Shrader.