Examining Monday Dolphins Roster Moves: Kicker Competition Over

The Miami Dolphins' kicker competition is over, with Riley Patterson set to return for a second season on the job.

The Dolphins announced three roster moves Monday, and one of them involving placing veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez on injured reserve.

Gonzalez left the Saturday practice at Hard Rock Stadium early, ironically kind of similar circumstances that led to Patterson becoming the Dolphins kicker in 2025. Incumbent Jason Sanderson sustained a hip injury in pregame warmups before a preseason matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Patterson won a four-way kicking tryout that included Gonzalez.

Because he's being placed on injured reserve at this time, Gonzalez won't be able to kick for the Dolphins in 2026 even if he were to recover from his (undisclosed) injury — unless he leaves with an injury settlement and returns after several weeks.

Patterson set a franchise record for field goal accuracy in 2025 when he went 27-for-29 as Sanders' replacement, which frankly made it a bit weird that the Dolphins signed Gonzalez as a free agent right before re-signing Patterson.

The Dolphins now have no competition going for any of the three specialist roles, with Bradley Pinion as the only punter and Tucker Addington the only long-snapper on the roster.

The other roster moves involved the signing of cornerback Nick McCloud and the team waiving rookie running back Anthony Hankerson.

The move with Hankerson leaves Miami with five running backs on the roster — De'Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II, Carlos Washington Jr. and Donovan Edwards.

THE SCOUTING REPORT ON NICK McCLOUD

McCloud becomes the second new cornerback to join the Dolphins in recent days, following Ahmari Harvey being claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers late last week.

Comparitively to Harvey and other recent acquisitions like Tanner Wall and Jeremiah Franklin, McCloud brings a lot of NFL experience to the Dolphins.

McCloud is a five-year veteran who has played 63 games with 20 starts, including four starts in 15 games with the Chicago Bears last season.

McCloud also has played for the Cincinnati Bengals, with whom he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers.

He has one career interception, that coming as a member of the Giants in 2023. His career high for starts is eight in 2022, also with the Giants.

The Dolphins now have 13 cornerbacks on the roster, including Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr., who both have been on the Physically Unable to Perform list for the entirety of training camp.

The others are Alex Austin, Miles Battle, Ethan Bonner, JuJu Brents, A.J. Green III, Chris Johnson, Jason Marshall Jr., Ethan Robinson, Marco Wilson, and Harvey.

Brents has been sidelined since Saturday because of an undisclosed injury, and head coach Jeff Hafley said before practice Monday he didn't anticipate him being available this week when the Dolphins head to Washington for a joint practice against the Commanders ahead of the preseason opener Friday night.