Report: Dolphins interested in extending K Jason Sanders
There is guaranteed to be much hand wringing over the course of the next month or so as each of the NFL’s 32 franchises tries to navigate the waters of what is sure to be an unpredictable free agent cycle. How much of a long-term impact will the cap reduction of 2021 have on teams? Will players expect to maintain the progression of pay regardless of the cap reductions? These are not easy questions to answer — and they will rule over the offseason for some teams.
The Miami Dolphins aren’t quite in that big of a pickle — but they do need to be selective with spending money at this juncture. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly complicated matters for the Dolphins’ rebuild; as Miami would have arguably double the cap space to work with if the 2021 cap had continued the league’s steady rise and progression in spending power.
But the pandemic did happen, as did the salary cap reduction, so Miami must adjust their strategy moving forward. That strategy includes identifying which core pieces of the team they want to ensure become long-term fixtures.
According to a report from Barry Jackson of the the Miami Herald yesterday, kicker Jason Sanders has been identified as one of those core pieces.
“Both sides would like to work out an extension, but it hasn’t reached the point of serious negotiations, according to a team source. The question is whether the Dolphins are willing to pay him on par with Justin Tucker’s four-year, $20 million extension with the Ravens in 2019. That was the richest deal ever given to a kicker.” – Barry Jackson, Miami Herald
If Sanders keeps kicking like this, he’ll have earned a Justin Tucker size contract: he was 36 of 36 on extra points this season and 36 of 39 on field goal attempts on the year, including 8 of 9 from beyond 50 yards on the season. Tucker, for the record was 52/53 on extra points this season and 26/29 on field goals before missing two critical field goals in the AFC Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills.
The decision to pay or not pay Sanders comes down to forecasting how sustainable the team thinks his kicking is. If they feel as though Sanders’ true self was the version he showed this year? Then pay up, even if it is Justin Tucker money. Because in the grand scheme of the salary cap situation, you’re never going to break the bank on a kicker offering him $4.5M or more a year. And you never really appreciate a good kicker until you don’t have one. That’s a dilemma the Dolphins would be well served to avoid all together.
