The Miami Dolphins signed Jason Sanders through 2026. Here are the contract details
All-pro season, all-pro contract for Jason Sanders.
The Dolphins on Tuesday locked down their homegrown specialist to a contract extension through the 2026 season. The details? Five new years for $22 million, with $10 million guaranteed.
Sanders was in the final year of his rookie deal and set to earn $920,000 in 2021. That base salary will remain the same and he will receive $3.9 million in combined signing and roster bonuses in his new deal. With the extension, his 2021 cap figure will rise from just under $1 million to around $1.6 million.
Sanders was nearly automatic in 2020, connecting on a franchise-record 92.3 percent of his field goals and all 36 of his extra points. He had no misses under 40 yards and his 144 points were both a team record and tied for the most among all players in the NFL. He was the NFL’s only kicker who didn’t miss an extra point (minimum 16 attempts).
Sanders’ new money will put him in the top five average salary of all NFL kickers. In his three-year NFL career, Sanders has connected on 77 of 89 field goals and 100 of 102 point-after attempts.
Sanders, a seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft, is the organization’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (86.5) and his 36 field goals made last year ranked second in Dolphins history.
The Dolphins are estimated to have somewhere around $34 million in cap space when free agency begins next month with only a handful of meaningful unrestricted free agents.
That list includes quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is unlikely to return for a third season in Miami, and Sanders’ fellow specialist Matt Haack, a punter who ranked in the bottom half of the league in net and gross punting last year.
The Dolphins also have three other members of their Class of 2018 who could be in line for an extension this offseason: Jerome Baker, Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe. Those three players are eligible to become unrestricted free agents in 13 months.
If Miami doesn’t extend any of those three in the months ahead, the Dolphins would have the option of using a 2022 franchise tag on Gesicki (which would cost more than $10 million) or Baker (which would cost about $16 million on a one-year deal). Using the tag on Gesicki would seem more realistic than using it on Baker.
An extension with Smythe would not be surprising; coaches have repeatedly said how much they value his versatility and contributions in the run game and passing game.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 12:20 PM.
