Who Should I Start? Jason Sanders or Charlie Smyth

Saturday, February 22, 11:46 AM

The Miami Dolphins have already cut veteran running back Raheem Mostert, cornerback Kendall Fuller and tight end Durham Smythe this offseason, and The Athletic's Jim Ayello suggests that kicker Jason Sanders could be the next on the chopping block. The Dolphins have one of the worst salary cap situations in the league this year, and cutting big-money players such as left tackle Terron Armstead and linebacker Bradley Chubb would incur huge dead-cap penalties ($32.7 million for Armstead and $27.3 million for Chubb). Sanders has a fair cap hit of $4.7 million in 2025, but the Dolphins could get additional cap space of $3.3 million by cutting him. The 29-year-old was a top-10 fantasy kicker in 2024 and made a career-high 37 of his 41 field-goal attempts in 17 games while missing just two of his extra-point tries. This situation purely comes down to salary-cap space for Miami.

Sunday, August 25, 6:35 PM

New Orleans Saints kicker Charlie Smyth (groin) didn't suit up during Sunday's preseason contest against the Tennessee Titans. The rookie kicker has been dealing with an ongoing groin issue since Friday. Head coach Dennis Allen said that the team wanted to play it safe and hold Smyth out of this game. In his absence, Blake Grupe handled the kicking duties during the preseason finale. He connected on both his field goal attempts and made all three of his extra point attempts as well. It remains to be seen which kicker the team decides to ride with into the regular season. Grupe is probably the favorite after making 30-of-37 field goal attempts and all 40 extra point attempts during his rookie season with the Saints in 2023.