Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Anders Carlson

Friday, January 3, 12:10 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said that veteran kicker Matt Prater (knee) "will not go" in the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. Prater suffered a meniscus injury in his knee earlier this year and missed the last three months as a result. The 40-year-old kicker only ended up playing in four games in 2024 before injuring his knee in his fourth year with Arizona and 18th year in the NFL. In the four games he was active, Prater made all six of his field-goal attempts (one from 50-plus yards) and was successful on all 10 of his extra-point tries as well. Prater will be a free agent heading into his age-41 season in 2025. Chad Ryland will close out the year this weekend as Arizona's kicker. He's bounced back from a tough rookie season with the Pats to go 26-for-30 on field goals and 21-for-22 on extra points in his 12 games with the Cardinals.

Monday, December 30, 9:21 PM

New York Jets kicker Anders Carlson has been waived by the organization on Monday. This doesn't come as a huge surprise given Greg Zuerlein (knee) was activated from the injured reserve over the weekend. Carlson was decent during his five games with the Jets. He connected on 8-of-10 field goals and missed two extra point attempts during his time in New York. The 26-year-old has decent potential, so we'll see if another team decides to scoop him up. Otherwise, Carlson will remain with Jets on their practice squad if he clears waivers.