What to know about Justin Tucker’s return to the NFL and the allegations against him

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Justin Tucker is back on an NFL roster.

The longtime Ravens kicker, who was suspended by the NFL following a Banner investigation that revealed 16 massage therapists had accused him of inappropriate conduct, has not played since January 2025.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed him to their practice squad Wednesday, setting up a potential return.

Does that mean he’ll be kicking this week?

That’s highly unlikely. While Chiefs starter Harrison Butker has struggled this season, making just 11 of 16 field goal attempts (a career-low 68.8%), teams often sign kickers to their practice squad as an insurance policy. Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters Wednesday that Butker would likely be the only kicker activated for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

But Butker’s job security could be on the line. His two missed field goals loomed large in the Chiefs’ 20-3 loss Sunday to the Seattle Seahawks. If his kicking woes continue Sunday against Denver, and if Tucker impresses in practice, Kansas City could release Butker and promote Tucker from the practice squad or sign him to its 53-man roster.

If Butker regains his form and Tucker provides little value to Kansas City, Tucker could be released to make space for another practice squad player.

How long has Tucker been out of the NFL?

The Ravens released Tucker in May 2025, calling it “a football decision.” He was coming off the worst season of his 13-year career, and the team had drafted kicker Tyler Loop as his likely replacement. Tucker had three years left on a four-year, $24 million contract extension that made him the league’s highest-paid kicker at the time.

In June 2025, Tucker was suspended 10 weeks after the NFL found that he’d violated its personal conduct policy. He served the suspension as a free agent and became eligible for reinstatement that November.

Tucker worked out for several teams last season and this season, but he wasn’t signed until Wednesday.

Why has he been out of the NFL?

Tucker’s suspension came five months after The Banner first reported allegations from six massage therapists in the Baltimore region who said that Tucker had engaged in inappropriate behavior at four high-end spas and wellness centers from 2012 to 2016.

Over the next two weeks, the number of women who accused Tucker of sexually inappropriate behavior rose to 16. Almost all of them alleged that Tucker repeatedly exposed his genitals during massage sessions, despite their efforts to keep him covered with sheets. Several said that Tucker had an erection during most of the massage and left ejaculate on the table. Two said that Tucker touched them with his penis.

Two spas said his behavior was so egregious that he was banned from returning.

Did Tucker ever address the allegations?

Tucker has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations “unequivocally false” and describing The Banner’s reporting as “desperate tabloid fodder.”

Tucker’s attorneys, Thomas A. Clare and Steven J. Harrison of the firm Clare Locke, also denied that he had been banned from any spas and categorically rejected the women’s allegations.

A month after The Banner’s first report, Tucker released a statement to the conservative-leaning website OutKick, saying, “I maintain I did not act inappropriately at any point before, during, or after a professional bodywork treatment session, nor have I ever been told I am unwelcome at any massage therapy provider.” He added, “It devastates me to know that anyone I have worked with would not have felt respected and valued as a professional, but more importantly as a person, and to anyone who has felt otherwise, I am sorry.”

Has Tucker faced any legal ramifications as a result of the allegations?

None of the women who spoke to The Banner said they took their allegations to law enforcement, and none has filed suit against Tucker.

Who were the women who spoke to The Banner? What do they think about his return to the NFL?

Acting on a tip, Banner reporters reached out to massage therapists from local spas and wellness centers and found 16 who reported that Tucker acted inappropriately while on their massage tables in the mid-2010s.

Some expressed disappointment and disgust upon learning that the Chiefs had signed Tucker.

“Sad day for all of the victims,” one therapist said in a text message. “Basically means he got away with it all.”

“Women in my profession, and every profession, deserve better,” another massage therapist told The Banner.

What made Tucker different from your typical kicker?

Tucker, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection in his 13 seasons in Baltimore, was one of the Ravens’ most popular players. His jersey was a fixture at Ravens games, and he appeared in ads ranging from Royal Farms to the 2024 action film “Kraven the Hunter.” A classically trained opera singer, Tucker performed at the Baltimore Basilica, where he sang “Ave Maria,” and for an NFL promotional commercial ahead of the 2022 season.

At the time he was released, Tucker was the Ravens’ longest-tenured player and the last one remaining from the team’s Super Bowl-winning roster in 2012. He also held NFL records for career field goal accuracy (89.1%) — the Los Angeles Chargers’ Cameron Dicker (92.6%) has since overtaken him — and for the longest field goal in league history. Tucker hit a game-winning 66-yarder in 2021, a mark that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Cam Little bested last season with a 68-yarder.

Banner reporter Julie Scharper contributed to this story.