Jets cut York, Sanders remains as only K

The 30-year-old veteran who missed all of last season due to a hip injury was released from the Giants’ competition in June and caught on with the Jets afterwards. “Jets kicker” is not traditionally a very valuable fantasy role, and this year, that will probably remain the case.

Koo has bounced around the league since leaving the Falcons and was ultimately unable to stick in New York long enough to compete with Cade York for the starting gig for the upcoming season. Expect Sanders to now compete with York in camp and preseason.

Not a great sign for Sanders’ future that he couldn’t beat out Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada to even become part of the Giants kicker competition for 2026. He’ll look for another landing spot to try to win a job.

He’ll likely be in a kicking competition after Nick Folk fled the Jets for the Falcons this week. York didn’t attempt any field goals in the league last year after bouncing between two teams in 2024. The fourth-round pick of the Browns has hit just 33 of his first 45 NFL field-goal attempts.

The financial terms were not immediately made available. Sanders kicked for the Dolphins for seven years before being unable to kick in 2025 due to a hip injury. A career 84.6% field goal conversion rate is tied for 27th all time in the NFL, Sanders has the chance to stick with the Giants on a long term deal should he find similar successes in 2026.

A hip injury caused Sanders to miss all of the 2025 season. Now, the veteran kicker with an 84.6 percent field goal percentage that includes a 68.8 percent on kicks of 50-plus yards will now be free to sign with any team. Sanders, 30, has been one of the top kickers in the league since joining the Dolphins as a seventh-round pick in 2018, and should have multiple suitors on the open market if he is fully recovered from his hip injury.

Brewer has gotten All-Pro support this year with a career-high 85.9 PFF grade, so his potential return to the lineup after missing Week 17 would bode well for (apparently) Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon. Dolphins LB Jordyn Brooks (hamstring), LB Chop Robinson (concussion), K Jason Sanders (right hip) and OL Austin Jackson (back) are all also questionable for Week 18.

Riley Patterson has been kicking in Sanders’ stead all year, converting 24-of-26 field goals and 31-of-32 extra points. Although the conversion rates are good, he lacks the requisite kick volume for K1 treatment. We do not know which player will be active on game day, but Sanders remained limited in practice all week.

If you’re thinking “haven’t thought of him for a minute,” well, Sanders has missed the entire season to this point with the hip ailment. Dolphins ST coordinator Craig Aukerman was asked Thursday about whether Sanders or Riley Patterson would kick this weekend and said he didn’t want to speculate. Dolphins long-time beat Barry Jackson noted that Aukerman was asked if he views it as “A). Sanders is Dolphins kicker moving forward period or B). This is a decision above my pay grade that must be made by whoever is in charge in next 8 months,” and Aukerman politely declined to answer. So, yeah. We don’t know who will kick for the Dolphins yet against the Bengals. Someone, probably.

York will likely kick for the Saints this week against the Dolphins after the team released Blake Grupe following his two missed field goal tries against the Falcons in Week 12. York, who has bounced around the NFL since entering the league in 2022 with the Browns, converted nine of his 11 field goal attempts in 2024 with the Bengals. York has a career conversion rate of 73 percent. He should remain on waiver wires for now.