Jason Sanders Makes It Clear That the Jets' Kicker Competition Is Far From Over

In what was once a competition that included Will Ferrin, Younghoe Koo, Lenny Krieg, Jason Sanders and Cade York, the battle to determine the Jets' kicker has been trimmed down to Sanders and York in the early stages of training camp.

While York stood out on Day 2 of training camp after converting on each of his kicks within 50 yards, and certainly strengthened his case to win the starting job, the veteran Sanders quickly reminded everyone that this is still a competition that is far from determined.

The 30-year-old Sanders was claimed off waivers by the Jets (via Giants) in June after missing all of last season with a hip injury. However, the former first-team All-Pro showed why this position battle could go down to the wire on Tuesday by making each of his eight field goal attempts ranging from 32 to 60 yards, per ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini.

Impressive kicking display: Sanders goes 8 for 8 on FGs ranging from 32 to 60 yards. York goes 7 for 8, only miss from 43. Kicking competition is neck and neck. Or leg and leg. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) August 4, 2026

There are some obvious injury concerns with Sanders after last season, but if he can come close to his 2024 season when he made 90.2% of his attempts (37-of-41), went 12-of-14 from at least 50 yards out and drilled 92.9% (26-of-28) of his extra-point attempts, this could be his spot for the taking in the end.

Jason Sanders makes statement in Jets' kicker battle on Tuesday

It is nowhere near a done deal that Sanders will be the starter, especially as he looks to return to form following the hip injury. However, for a Jets team that lost the reliable Nick Folk to the Falcons in free agency and has struggled to find a suitable replacement up to this point, his performance so far indicates that he is not going down without a fight.

This is arguably the top position battle to watch throughout training camp when you consider how evenly-matched both kickers seem to be and the success that this special teams unit experienced last season on an otherwise disappointing team.

The Jets signed York to a one-year deal in March, but a groin injury and less-than-ideal performance in offseason team activities and minicamp posed some concerns. When York last played in 2024, he was 9-of-13 (69.2%) on field goals and only 2-of-5 (40%) from at least 40 yards out. He is also just 7-of-11 (63%) from 40-49 yards out and 5-of-9 (55.5%) from beyond 50 yards in his career.

Jason Sanders holds the football. — Can Cade York get a leg back up over Jason Sanders in the Jets' kicker competition before it's too late? | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In terms of their overall body of work, Sanders has the upper hand with an 84.6% conversion rate on his field goal attempts, compared to York's 73.3%. Granted, Sanders had not eclipsed the 90% mark since the 2020 season, but it says a lot that he attempted a career-high 41 field goals in 2024 and still converted them at an efficient rate.

Despite that, Sanders will still need to show he is back to his reliable self after a challenging offseason. The Dolphins ultimately released him following the 2025 season before the Giants signed him shortly after. However, he missed multiple kicks in organized team activities and was quickly released.

Whoever comes out on top of the kicking competition, the hope for the Jets is that they at least have a reliable option to turn to after the success that Folk had. It is still early, but Sanders responded to York's early training camp success on Tuesday and reasserted himself as the potential front-runner for the position.

Now, it is up to Sanders to sustain that success and show that the kicker position goes through him the rest of the way as he and York continue their competitive head-to-head battle.

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