How safe is Jason Sanders?

[The Ghost]

I ask because there are two pretty good kickers coming out this year that we might be able to snag in the 6th or 7th round in Stanford’s Joshua Karty and Arkansas’s Cam Little.

Sanders had a decent season, bouncing back from two of his worst seasons in 2021 and 2022. He’s due a $3.775M salary this year and looks like we could save about $2.4M with a release and $3.1M with a post June 1st designation. Pretty decent savings for the leagues 22nd ranked kicker last year.

Karty was a perfect 18-18 in 2022 including a 61 yarder and posted a near identical 85.2% to that of Sanders 85.7%. Karty did miss an easy 32 yarder in the Senior Bowl but you can probably chalk that up to not having been used to the holder as he was 44-46 on kicks under 40 yards in his career. Karty is a perfect 72-72 on XPs and Sanders is 233-240 in his career.

Sanders season highlights include a game winner against Dallas and a new career long of 57 yards.

Is it time to replace Sanders? I think so. However, if he’s back I won’t be too upset but it’s hard to ignore that he’s a bottom third kicker. Should he be making more than Raheem Mostert?

I’d take a shot on Karty at 198. We haven’t had much luck with those late round picks so he’d give us chance to get a guy who will stick. We’re going to need that money, not just this year but also next year when his salary isn $4.025M. May not sound like much in the context of where the cap is but compared to a guy making near minimum, it’s still substantial.

Just my random thought for tonight.

 

[Feverdream]

I'd say... extremely safe.

I'm not sure that we even bring in a FA for camp.

 

[lynx]

He looked at me weird once but I think he's fairly safe.

When free agency started kickers flew off the board right away, Sanders definitely has some value after last year's performance, I keep him and don't even think twice about it

 

[The Ghost]

If your remove the 4 kickers who had barely any attempts, Sanders was the 18th ranked kicker in a bounce back season for him.

I thing if they get a shot to upgrade the leg and save some decent money in the process, via the draft, it will be strongly considered.

What are the odds they pull a more valuable player in the late 6th round?

Sanders is slated to be the leagues 12th highest paid kicker this year while still being below average. Doesn’t seem like great a business decision.

 

[VAFinsfan72]

As crazy as it sounds, Sanders has the 11th highest cap number on the roster if you exclude X who will be a post June 1 cut.

Cutting him before June 1 saves us $2.3M with $2.1M in dead money.

Cutting him post June 1 saves us $3.7M with $730K in dead money.

He is signed through 2027. His cap numbers in 24 25 and 26 are all in the $4.5M to $4.7M range. He actually becomes an incredible bargain in 27 when his cap number will only be $331K.

I'm not really sure what to do with him. He might be slightly overpaid but would it be worth it to release him and sign another K who will be an unknown and how much of a cap savings will it really be after paying a new K?

He was pretty good last year and supposedly one of the reasons why we re-signed Bailey was because of his ability to place the ball the way Sanders likes it for him to be successful.

I guess I would give him another year. If he regresses then we can cut him post June 1 next year giving us $4M in cap savings with only $730K in dead money.

 

[The Ghost]

As crazy as it sounds, Sanders has the 11th highest cap number on the roster if you exclude X who will be a post June 1 cut.

Cutting him before June 1 saves us $2.3M with $2.1M in dead money.

Cutting him post June 1 saves us $3.7M with $730K in dead money.

He is signed through 2027. His cap numbers in 24 25 and 26 are all in the $4.5M to $4.7M range. He actually becomes an incredible bargain in 27 when his cap number will only be $331K.

I'm not really sure what to do with him. He might be slightly overpaid but would it be worth it to release him and sign another K who will be an unknown and how much of a cap savings will it really be after paying a new K?

He was pretty good last year and supposedly one of the reasons why we re-signed Bailey was because of his ability to place the ball the way Sanders likes it for him to be successful.

I guess I would give him another year. If he regresses then we can cut him post June 1 next year giving us $4M in cap savings with only $730K in dead money.

How unknown are kickers really when it comes to college vs. the pros.

And his “pretty good” last year was still below the league average on the heels of being a level kicker the two previous seasons.

If you can draft one is those top two kickers, you cut the cord. There is no reason not to expect a guy like Karty can produce at worst, the same results as Sanders, and likely even better. With the added bonus of extra distance.

 

[Buddy]

I don't love Sanders and would be fine if they replaced him. However, I would be ecstatic if they drafted a great punter and a great return specialist with our 6/7 round picks. Our special teams sucked last year so improving them would be fantastic.

 

[MrClean]

I'd rather draft a late-round Bailey replacement than a Sanders replacement. I don't understand why they replaced Morstead with him last season when Morstead wanted to come back, and then signed him for two more seasons of likely mediocrity a couple of weeks ago.

 

[TurboDurden]

I don't care about kicker too much, there are the top 2-3 guys in the league, the bottom 2-3, and then everyone else is in the middle. Sanders is fine. If we like a youngster more then great.

But you've reminded me that I was worried that Mostert who massively outperformed his contract last season is going to sit out looking for a new one. I think they should find a way to pay him a bit better this year, even if it's incentive based.

 

[Jssanto]

If your remove the 4 kickers who had barely any attempts, Sanders was the 18th ranked kicker in a bounce back season for him.

I thing if they get a shot to upgrade the leg and save some decent money in the process, via the draft, it will be strongly considered.

What are the odds they pull a more valuable player in the late 6th round?

Sanders is slated to be the leagues 12th highest paid kicker this year while still being below average. Doesn’t seem like great a business decision.

I agree, we might add a guy, at least for competition. It may not be needed to use a pick. We might get an UDFA.

 

[Jssanto]

I don't care about kicker too much, there are the top 2-3 guys in the league, the bottom 2-3, and then everyone else is in the middle. Sanders is fine. If we like a youngster more then great.

But you've reminded me that I was worried that Mostert who massively outperformed his contract last season is going to sit out looking for a new one. I think they should find a way to pay him a bit better this year, even if it's incentive based.

We seem to have enough injuries that Moestert is sure needed. Achane, Ahmed, Brooks are our RBs right now

 

[MARINO1384]

Safest player on the team. They signed a shitty punter because sanders likes him as a holder.

 

[AL R]

Safest player on the team. They signed a shitty punter because sanders likes him as a holder.

That and the whole continuity comment from the staff, sorry but you can’t keep the punter cause of the way he holds when he is deficient at his primary job.

Punt game and field position become important when playing good teams.

 

[The Goat]

I ask because there are two pretty good kickers coming out this year that we might be able to snag in the 6th or 7th round in Stanford’s Joshua Karty and Arkansas’s Cam Little.

Sanders had a decent season, bouncing back from two of his worst seasons in 2021 and 2022. He’s due a $3.775M salary this year and looks like we could save about $2.4M with a release and $3.1M with a post June 1st designation. Pretty decent savings for the leagues 22nd ranked kicker last year.

Karty was a perfect 18-18 in 2022 including a 61 yarder and posted a near identical 85.2% to that of Sanders 85.7%. Karty did miss an easy 32 yarder in the Senior Bowl but you can probably chalk that up to not having been used to the holder as he was 44-46 on kicks under 40 yards in his career. Karty is a perfect 72-72 on XPs and Sanders is 233-240 in his career.

Sanders season highlights include a game winner against Dallas and a new career long of 57 yards.

Is it time to replace Sanders? I think so. However, if he’s back I won’t be too upset but it’s hard to ignore that he’s a bottom third kicker. Should he be making more than Raheem Mostert?

I’d take a shot on Karty at 198. We haven’t had much luck with those late round picks so he’d give us chance to get a guy who will stick. We’re going to need that money, not just this year but also next year when his salary isn $4.025M. May not sound like much in the context of where the cap is but compared to a guy making near minimum, it’s still substantial.

Just my random thought for tonight.

I still say Sanders looks like a serial killer.

In all seriousness, I believe Miami likes Sanders enough that the Bailey signing was related to how good of a holder he is on kicks.

I can’t process any other reason to re-sign Jake Bailey.

But Sanders totally looks like a serial killer.

 

[The Ghost]

Still, Sanders is a bottom 3rd kicker.