Jets add veteran kicker Jason Sanders, betting on reliability after a season lost to injury

The New York Jets have added veteran kicker Jason Sanders as they continue to shape a kicking competition for the upcoming NFL season. The move comes after the team made a quick pivot at the position, releasing Younghoe Koo shortly after signing him and bringing Sanders in as a more proven leg with a track record at the top of the league when healthy.

Sanders, 30, is listed at 5-foot-11 and 186 pounds. He entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick out of the University of New Mexico in 2018 and spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Miami Dolphins. His reputation in Miami rested on accuracy and scoring volume, highlighted by an all-pro caliber 2020 season when he led the NFL in scoring and missed just three of 39 field-goal attempts.

Injury changed the arc of his career since then. Multiple reports around the signing note that Sanders did not play in 2025, spending the season on injured reserve. That absence is important for how a team evaluates a kicker, because it reduces the amount of current form film available and raises questions about timing, feel, and workload after a layoff.

Sanders’ post-injury path also has some turbulence. He was released by the Dolphins in March and then picked up by the New York Giants, only to be cut again before landing in Green and White. The Jets’ decision to sign him reflects how quickly NFL rosters turn over at kicker, where teams can afford minimal experimentation but cannot ignore performance risk.

What the Jets are likely looking for is not just raw leg strength, but repeatability across kick distances and game conditions. When healthy, Sanders has been described as a high-percentage option in areas that drive win probability, including frequent makes on short-to-intermediate attempts and a steady success rate on kicks from farther than 50 yards. Even with last season lost, his career profile suggests he has typically hit the kicks coaches expect, and done enough beyond that to avoid dragging down scoring drives.

There is also a stadium and environment component at MetLife Stadium, where weather and wind can become part of the weekly calculus for kickers. One analysis cited in reporting suggests Sanders’ style has produced a workable field-goal percentage at MetLife across a limited sample, though any retrospective comparison has obvious limits when factoring in time, health, and changing lineup dynamics.

For Jets fans, the next watch items are straightforward. Whether Sanders can show consistent mechanics in offseason work, whether New York keeps other kicking candidates on the roster to maintain pressure, and how the team decides between upside and certainty if there are close decisions in training camp. At a position defined by small margins, the goal is simple: a kicker who can be trusted when the offense gives him a chance.

In practical terms, this signing does not change the Jets’ broader roster overhaul, but it narrows one of the most scrutinized question marks. Special teams points can swing field position and outcomes, and New York’s choice to install Sanders now indicates a preference for experience and proven accuracy, even with the caveat that his 2025 season was lost to injury.