The Kansas City Chiefs have cut kicker Cairo Santos in a surprise move that sets him free to sign with another club after healing.

It’s been a surprising season all the way around for the Kansas City Chiefs. The latest surprising transaction comes with news on Saturday that the Chiefs have cut longtime kicker Cairo Santos after placing him on injured reserve.

Chiefs waive K Cairo Santos with an injury designation — Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) September 30, 2017

The move allows Santos to sign with any new team after he heals from his lingering groin injury. Initially the Chiefs were expected to potentially bring him back later in the season given how accurate he’s been for the team over the last three-plus seasons. Even this year, he’d not missed a single kick and that came on the heels of his best season last year when he converted 88 percent of his field goals attempted.

Santos will now be free to rehab on his own time (and dime) as the Chiefs turn the corner to the newly acquired Harrison Butker. Butker was the seventh round draft choice of the Carolina Panthers and they tried to stash him on the practice squad but instead the Chiefs poached him after Santos went down.

Santos initially injured himself in the preseason and he missed the bulk of the team’s preseason games after suffering a groin injury that wouldn’t go away. He reportedly re-injured the same area in Week 3 after looking great in the first couple weeks of the season. The Chiefs had brought in Sam Ficken as their kicker throughout the preseason but apparently decided to go elsewhere for a long-term replacement for Santos.