Ben Sauls Dishes on How He Survived Giants Kicking Carousel

Ben Sauls capped a short, but successful stint as the Giants kicker in 2025.

Dec 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants kicker Ben Sauls (30) reacts against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

To many, at first kicker Ben Sauls was just another guy in a long string of kickers for the New York Giants in what had become a comical string of adventures.

But lo and behold, the rookie who came in with zero experience and who had the distinction of being the first left-footed place-kicker since Raiders great Sebastian Janikowski, stabilized the Giants’ kicking situation.

Sauls, who had a brief stint with the Steelers practice squad following a five-year career at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was 122-of-124 in XPTs and 52-of-64 in field goal attempts, appeared in three games for the Giants.

Sauls finished his short rookie campaign having converted all eight of his field goal attempts, the longest of which was from 45 yards in the regular-season finale against Dallas, and all seven of his PATs. 

“In my head, I felt like this season I was kind of kicking for my life, which, which I think I came in every day, like how it could be my last day being on two different practice squads,” Sauls told the Locked On Giants podcast.

“Knowing the job is so up in the air sometimes. I think that process and that mindset kept me really sharp every single day.”

Sauls believes that his “free-agent mentality” and realizing that kicking footballs in the NFL wasn’t that much different than kicking balls in college helped him avoid the jitters.

“Every day was a competition for me, you know what I mean? So at the end of the day, it's kicking footballs, you know, and I've been doing that for five years in college.”

Dec 28, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; New York Giants kicker Ben Sauls (30) kicks a field goal in the third quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With Sauls being a left-footed kicker, that requires an adjustment on the part of holder Jamie Gillan and, to a certain degree, long snapper Casey Kreiter, who told New York Giants On SI that every so often, when he looked between his legs, he had to remind himself of which side Gillan was on.

“For those guys to go in a game and be as sharp as they were was pretty incredible,” Sauls gushed. “I think we're at a point where we're really good, and we can get really, really good and start getting great if we can get the reps in.”

Sauls hopes for more opportunity with Giants

Sauls, who will be an exclusive rights free agent, said he hadn’t heard from the Giants regarding whether they want him back to at least compete for the job in the summer. 

But he’s keeping his fingers crossed that they do.

“I absolutely love New York,” he said with a big grin. “I really do think I belong here. I think being cold and in the elements makes you feel alive. Bring on the cold, bring on the wind. Let's go!”

When told that not many kickers share those sentiments, Sauls smiled. “That's what I did at Pitt. That's just what I'm about. And I think I lock in even better in rough conditions.”

Sauls added that if he is back with the Giants, he hopes not only to improve with the kicking operation (Kreiter is a pending UFA but expressed a desire to be back), but also to improve on directional kickoffs.

“It's my first offseason, so I really have to figure it out,” he said when asked about his offseason training plans. I have a coach up in Buffalo, actually. But it's my first offseason, so I gotta navigate it, and it'll probably be a little process of trial and error, but I know what I need to work on, and that's what's important.”

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