Jason Sanders should be on a short leash for the Miami Dolphins

It is becoming increasingly clear that Jason Sanders is no longer the sure thing the Miami Dolphins signed an extension with. In fact, we have to assume he is on the hot seat.

Sanders is now three years from his All-Pro designation and he hasn’t been the kicker since. His value to the team now is more or less touchback kickoffs rather than clutch field goals.

Since being drafted by the Dolphins in 2018, Sanders has now become more unreliable than the 90% kicker he was in his rookie season.

• 2018 – 90% – 18/20 50 yards longest
• 2019 – 76.7% – 23/30 54 yards longest
• 2020 – 92.3% – 36/39 56 yards longest
• 2021 – 74.2% – 23/31 51 yards longest
• 2022 – 11/15 – 73.3% 49 yards longest

Dolphins fans wondered if the drop-off from 2020 to 2021 was a problem with the holder but Thomas Morstead who replaced Matt Haack is one of the best holders in the NFL and has been doing it for years. Clearly, there is more than the holder.

So far this year, through nine games, Sanders has missed half of what he missed all season last year. Extra points are the same as well. Sanders has missed no more than one extra point in any full season but this year he already has one miss in the first half of the season.

Sanders simply isn’t reliable anymore. From inside the 30, Sanders was money but this year he already has a chip shot miss from inside the 30 and he has missed all of his attempts outside the 50, three of them, and those have been critical misses setting up opposing offenses practically at midfield.

So what is wrong with Sanders? Is this a case of just being inside his own head or is there something else going on? Sanders simply isn’t playing like the kicker we saw in 2018 and 2020 but you have to wonder, again, if those two seasons were the anomalies.

Sanders is making $ 3 million and change this year but he is under contract for the next several seasons. Here is a look at the next four seasons and what his cap number is versus the dead money if he were released and cap savings. Not accounting for post-June 1st designations.

• 2023 – $3.7 million – $3.6 million dead money – $95 thousand saved
• 2024 – $4.1 million – $800K dead money – $3.3 million saved
• 2025 – $4.4 million – $400K dead money – $4 million saved
• 2026 – $4.25 million – $0 dead money – $4.25 million saved

Miami can eat $3.6 million if Sanders doesn’t get his act together but in 2024 it will be surprising if he is still around at the current cap numbers considering the amount Miami can save. Maybe the knowledge of potentially losing money might motivate him to get back on track.

When Sanders is playing well, not many kickers are better and that is a rub because finding a new kicker might save the Dolphins money at some point but will that kicker be any better? At some point, the Dolphins will need to make that determination and if things are like they are now, the answer will most assuredly be yes.