Jan 5, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Miami Dolphins place kicker Jason Sanders (7) celebrates a field goal with punter Jake Bailey (16) during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Grading Giants' Signing Veteran K Jason Sanders

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Mar 11, 2026 10:00 AM ET

In a surprising move at the end of Day 2 of the NFL “legal” free agency negotiating window, the New York Giants dipped back into the special teams well. New head coach and special teams guru John Harbaugh has valued this area highly throughout his illustrious career.

The latest addition to the third phase is a one-year agreement with former Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders, who comes to East Rutherford amid significant uncertainty after not attempting a single field goal in 2025 due to a hip injury over the summer.

Nonetheless, Sanders’ deal makes it clear that Harbaugh wants to end the kicking debacle that has been one of the Giants' biggest embarrassments in recent seasons. The financial details of the deal have not yet been announced.

Since the 2023 season, the Giants have gone through seven different place kickers, largely due to the repetitive injuries sustained by veteran kicker Graham Gano, whom the Giants handed a three-year contract extension that same year, forcing him to miss 28 games in that span.

Gano made his first appearance on injured reserve after sustaining a groin injury in Week 3 of the 2023 season that limited his efficiency in the Giants' loss to Kansas City.

He returned five weeks later, trying to get back into a groove. But he suffered a neck ailment in mid-November. That ended his season after just five games, his lowest total since his 2009 rookie campaign.

The remainder of the season saw the Giants scrambling to prepare kicking options for their games, most of whom failed to retain the job and even cost the Giants a couple of games they might have won with the benefit of better kicking in the clutch.

That was until they turned to undrafted rookie Ben Sauls, who was eager to stake his claim on an NFL roster. He made a convincing effort in the final three games for New York.

Sauls posted a 75.5 kicking grade and converted all eight of his field goal attempts and all seven extra points.IIt feels a little strange that the Giants made this move to carry a second kicker into training camp.

They will definitely cut Gano in the coming days, creating $4.5 million in cap savings. That money will go towards paying Sanders' 2026 salary.

Given that Sauls did well in his brief tryout, if you will, one could have imagined they would give him the opportunity to start next season as the first option and see how he progresses.

Bringing in Sanders creates a potential kicking competition in training camp, or perhaps he simply goes to the practice squad and backs up Sauls in the event of injuries.

Either way, the signing of Sanders feels hard to slap on a firm grade because his previous season mirrored Gano's. At the minimum, the fanbase will be pleased to know that team leadership understands how big a deal it is to put the kicking nightmares to rest.