Evaluating the Addition of Zane Gonzalez As the New Kicker

One day after finding their new quarterback, the Miami Dolphins have found their new kicker.

The Dolphins went with veteran Zane Gonzalez, who agreed to terms on a one-year contract, according to his agent Mike McCartney.

Excited for Zane Gonzalez agreeing to a 1 year deal with the @MiamiDolphins
— Mike McCartney (@MikeMcCartney7) March 10, 2026

Gonzalez is coming off an impressive 2025 season with the Atlanta Falcons when he made 19 of 22 field goal attempts after being brought in to solve their kicking woes. More impressively, Gonzalez was 7-for-9 on attempts of 50 yards or beyond.

Prior to that, Gonzalez had been among four kickers who took part in a tryout to sub in for Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders after he sustained a hip injury in a preseason game that ultimately would keep him on injured reserve the whole season.

Gonzalez, as well as Eddy Pineiro and Greg Joseph, were beaten out by Riley Patterson, who went on to set a Dolphins single-season record for field goal accuracy by making 27 of 29 attempts.

But Patterson signed only a one-year contract with Miami, so when the team released Sanders a few days ago, it left them without a kicker under contract for 2026.

Enter Gonzalez.

A seventh-round pick of the Cleveland Browns out of Arizona State in 2017, one year before the Dolphins took Sanders in the same round, Gonzalez has a career success rate of 81 percent on his field goal attempts in seven seasons spent with five teams — the Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders and finally the Falcons.

Gonzalez's success rate is lower than those of Sanders (84.6) and Patterson (87.4). Given his success last season, Patterson seemed like a logical option for the Dolphins once they released Sanders, but Gonzalez ended up being the choice.

The Dolphins now have to find a new long-snapper after veteran Joe Cardona agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams, as well as a new punter after veteran Jake Bailey agreed on a three-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, where he'll be reunited with 2025 Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.

There were six teams in the NFL last year — the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions — that had a field goal percentage under 80 percent, and maybe one or more of them might like the idea of adding Patterson, who hit at a 93.1 percent clip for the Dolphins.

Sanders was scheduled to make $4.25 million in 2026, hardly a wild amount for a kicker. That salary would have ranked 13th in the NFL.

Given their cap situation, the Dolphins ideally were going to on the cheap for a kicker, so the question became exactly what Patterson could get on the market after his brilliant 2025 season.

Pineiro also could have been an interesting possibility after he led the NFL in field goal percentage at 96.6 by going 28-for-29 for the San Francisco 49ers but he agreed to a contract extension to remain with them.