The Miami Dolphins need a helpful leg.
No team likes to see their trusty kicker injured, but that’s where the Dolphins find themselves less than two weeks before the regular season. Jason Sanders has been placed on injured reserve.
Now, Miami has hit up the kicker scrap heap to find a fill-in.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that four kickers are in the running. They are:
- Zane Gonzalez
- Greg Joseph
- Riley Patterson
- Eddy Pineiro
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The good news for the Dolphins is that all four of these guys have been legitimate NFL starting kickers at one point or another.
The bad news is that another team opted to not keep them or sign them first and that they’re just out here hanging out as kickers for hire.
Sanders is coming off a season in which he was 37-for-41 on field goals (90.2%), so it’s a high bar to replace.
In 2024, Pineiro was the Carolina Panthers’ main kicker. He was 22-for-26 (84.6%) on field goals.
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Gonzalez got a chance to kick in a few games and went 5-for-7 on field goals, 71.4%.
Patterson was only 4-for-7 in 2024, 57.1%.
Joseph played part of the season and made 16 of his 20 FG attempts.
None of these guys is perfect. Pineiro might be the most accurate but doesn’t have a huge leg.
The Dolphins probably just need some consistency as a fill-in kicker, not someone who is erratic or emotional.
Schefter didn’t report any decision as of Tuesday night. Who knows where this kicker conversation is going next in Miami? There’s still a choice to be finalized, at the very least.
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