The Miami Dolphins on Tuesday hosted four free agent kickers for a try out, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move comes after the team placed incumbent kicker Jason Sanders on injured reserve among the final roster cuts to start the 2025 season. Sanders sustained a hip injury during warmups ahead of the team’s preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will now miss at least the first four games of the regular season.
The Dolphins coaching staff took a closer look at Zane Gonzalez, Greg Joseph, Riley Patterson, and Eddy Pineiro, according to Schefter. Miami’s initial 53-man roster does not include a kicker and the team could choose to sign someone to the practice squad, elevating him for game day each week. Teams are allowed to elevate a player three times during the season before he would have to be promoted to the active roster to continue seeing game day work.
Gonzalez was a seventh-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017. He played five seasons in the NFL, kicking for the Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and Carolina Panthers through the 2021 season. He returned to football in 2024, playing in six games for the Washington Commanders. He has a career 80 percent field goal conversion rate with a long of 57 yards.
Joseph began his career as an undrafted free agent signed by the Dolphins in 2018, but he was cut in the final round of roster cuts that year. He then joined the Browns and has also had stints with the Panthers, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Commanders, New York Jets, and started training camp with the San Francisco 49ers this year. He has played six seasons, spending 2020 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad with no appearances, and has an 82.3 percent field goal conversion rate and a career-long of 61 yards.
Patterson joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2021, but was released with an injury settlement late in the preseason. He then had a practice squad stint with the New England Patriots before being poached by the Detroit Lions midway through his rookie season. He has also spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Browns, Commanders, Jets, and Atlanta Falcons. In his four seasons, he has converted 85.1 percent of his field goal tries and has a career-long of 53 yards.
Pineiro was undrafted out of college, signing with the Oakland Raiders in 2018. He was traded to the Chicago Bears in 2019 before landing on injured reserve for all of the 2020 season. He spent training camp in 2021 with the Indianapolis Colts before a short practice squad stint with the Washington Football Team in 2021, ending the season with a late signing with the New York Jets. He played for the Panthers from 2022 through 2024. In his five years of playing time, he has converted on 88.1 percent of his field goal attempts with a long of 56 yards.
The Dolphins face the Indianapolis Colts in 12 days to open the regular season.
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