Jets make decision on kicker after uninspiring veteran competition

The Jets’ preseason kicking competition — which hasn’t exactly generated much optimism — is over for now.Jason Sanders, who missed all of last season and was cut by the Giants earlier this year, has won the job over Cade York, special teams coordinator Chris Banjo said before practice Tuesday.Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.

Gang Green will be waiving York.But Sanders didn’t cruise toward winning the job, missing three of his five kicks during practice Monday to cap what turned into an uninspiring preseason battle for a Jets team that let Nick Folk walk in free agency.“We feel really, really good about what Jason is and where we are with him right now,” Banjo said of the 30-year-old.

“The experience he’s kinda had in our division, kicking in our division.”With NFL rosters needing to get trimmed to 53 players by Sunday, plenty of kickers will become available after they get released by their current team.The Jets could always bring in another option even if Sanders, on paper, has won the job.

Until the return of Folk last year, when he hit 28-of-29 field goals and all of his extra points, Gang Green stumbled through years of turnover at the position.But for the moment, at least, the role belongs to Sanders, who has recovered from the hip injury that caused him to miss all of 2025.“You look at his pedigree, what he’s been able to do in big moments in big moments — like I said, in our division,” Banjo, who also downplayed concerns about ex-Dolphin’s range, said.“You get to be around that kinda all offseason, throughout training camp, throughout this evaluation process, it starts to build more confidence and more conviction for who he is as a player.”...