Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Greg Joseph

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.

Sunday, January 5, 10:10 PM

New York Jets kicker Greg Joseph made his lone field-goal attempt and added three extra points in a 32-20 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 18. Joseph was signed off of the Jets' practice squad earlier in the week and hit all of his kicks in the season finale. New York opened the season with Greg Zuerlein as their kicker, but he struggled with injuries and accuracy issues throughout the season. That being said, he is still under contract for one more season so he is likely to open 2025 as the Jets' kicker once again, leaving Joseph to pursue work elsewhere this offseason.