In general, field goal kickers are underpaid in the NFL, and the elite kickers are significantly underpaid. Not only are they underpaid, field goal kickers are primarily anonymous in which a casual fan might find difficulty in listing even one field goal kicker, but wouldn't have a problem with coming up with a couple quarterback or running back names. The fact of the matter is that field goals are a major component of the game and its inherent strategy, and therefore consequently having a field goal kicker that is at the top of his profession is absolutely mandatory for serious NFL contending teams.
For instance, every field goal attempt at less than 20 yards was converted in the NFL for 2013. Out of 239 attempts at a distance of 20-29 yards, 233 of those were successful for 97.5%. For 2013, a record 863 field goals were made and an overall conversion rate was 86.5% for all field goals, in which the conversion percentage of 67.1% was made on field goals of 50 yards or greater. Additionally, 25.4% of all NFL games were decided by 3 points or less, and 49.6% of games had a deficit of 3 points or less at some point in the 4th quarter.
All of this points to the fundamental fact that since field goal kickers contribute so many points to a team's score, that strategies are built around getting the football to a point on the field in which 3 points are either virtually assured or alternatively have a high percentage of success as opposed to trying to score a touchdown, especially when 3 points will essentially provide the team with the lead or enough points to make the game a 2-possession or a 2-score game.
The most frequent margin of victory over the last 20 years in NFL games is 3 points, of which this happens 15.38% of the time, nearly double the next most frequent margin of victory which is 7 points, at 8.04%. It is no coincidence that 3 points is the most frequent winning margin, as the object of the game is to win, and the 3 points that a field goal gives you, with a very high percentage of success, is frequently enough points to take care of business and to secure the victory.
In the scheme of things, field goal kickers are consistently at the bottom of the pay scale from a positional basis on nearly all teams, but their influence on whether their team wins or loses is either the highest or 2nd-highest to the quarterback in every case, because field goals are so often the game decider in close games and strategies are built around the success of field goals. Of course, it goes without saying that field goal kickers are specialists, they are only on the field to kick field goals, but their impact is exceptional, and because of their influence on a game's outcome and its strategies, you should want the absolute best at this position, especially since they are underpaid significantly against their true worth.
Last year, the individual field goal success rate ranged from a low of 70% to a high of 96.2%, in which one player (Matt Prater/DEN) made good on every field goal of 49 yards or less, with just one miss out of seven on field goals greater than 50 yards. Because there are only 16 regular season games in the NFL each game is of critical importance, having a field goal kicker than can virtually assure you that you can bank the points is invaluable, he should be actively sought out, and he should be well compensated.