Who Should I Start? Graham Gano or Riley Patterson

Saturday, February 22, 12:20 PM

The New York Giants don't have any big contracts that they need to shed this offseason and are in a pretty healthy salary cap situation in 2025, but The Athletic's Dan Duggan suggests that kicker Graham Gano could still be a cap casualty as the Giants look to save a little extra money. The 37-year-old veteran is set to count $5.7 million against this year's cap and has missed 16 games because of injury the last two years. If the G-Men decide to cut the kicker, they'd save $3.2 million on the cap while creating $2.5 million in dead money. Gano injured his hamstring in Week 9 in 2024 and ended up playing in only 10 games, going 9-for-11 on his field-goal tries and 15-for-15 on extra points. He's been pretty reliable in his five seasons with New York, making 87.2% of his field goals, but the Giants wouldn't be blamed for looking to go younger at the position.

Wednesday, August 27, 7:51 PM

The Miami Dolphins officially signed free-agent kicker Riley Patterson to their practice squad on Wednesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Patterson is expected to be elevated to kick against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 of the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 7, in place of the injured Jason Sanders (hip). The Dolphins put Sanders on short-term Injured Reserve on Tuesday, meaning he'll miss at least the first four games of the 2025 season. The 25-year-old Patterson will get a shot to fill in as Miami's kicker until Sanders returns, although he won't really be a starting kicking option in 12-team fantasy leagues. Patterson has already kicked for five different teams in his four NFL seasons and has made 85.1% of his 74 field-goal attempts and 96.5% of his 112 extra-point tries. He's gone just 4-for-9 from 50-plus yards out.