Who Should I Start? Jason Sanders or Michael Badgley

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.

Tuesday, March 4, 3:15 PM

The Detroit Lions recently cleared veteran kicker Michael Badgley (groin) from the torn groin that kept him out for all of last season, a source tells NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. While Badgley has made a full recovery, he's now set to become a free agent next week. With the 29-year-old out of commission all year, Jake Bates served as Detroit's regular kicker and was very reliable, missing only three of his 29 field-goal attempts in 17 regular-season games while missing three of his 67 extra-point attempts in his first year in the league. Because of how good Bates looked in 2024, it's likely that the Lions will let Badgley walk in free agency as he heads into his eighth year in the NFL. Badgley has a career 82.4 percent success rate on 119 field-goal attempts in 64 games played. In four games with Detroit in 2023, he made all four of his FGs and went 13-for-15 on extra points.