NFL Player News

Sanders is set to battle Cade York (groin) for the Jets' kicker job in training camp, Jack Bell of the Jets' official site reports.

Sanders didn't play in 2025 due to a hip injury, but he converted 90.2 percent of field-goal attempts for the Dolphins during the 2024 regular season, missing only four times on 41 attempts. If Sanders regains pre-injury form, he would be the favorite to beat out York, who has a career 73.3-percent conversion rate (33-for-45) on field-goal attempts.

Reichard is set to reprise his role as Minnesota's kicker in 2026, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports.

Reichard cemented his spot as the Vikings' placekicker with an impressive sophomore season in the NFL, as he missed only twice on 35 field-goal attempts during the 2025 regular season. Minnesota doesn't have any competition for the 2024 sixth-round pick on the roster heading into training camp.

Butker is set to work as Kansas City's kicker again in 2026, Nate Taylor of ESPN.com reports.

Butker is entering his 10th consecutive season as the kicker for the Chiefs. He converted 33 of 38 field-goal attempts while playing in all 17 games in 2025. Kansas City doesn't have another kicker on the roster entering training camp, so the team has full faith in the 31-year-old Butker.

Elliott is expected to again serve as Philadelphia's starting kicker in 2026, Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com reports.

Per the Eagles' official site, Elliott is the only kicker on Philadelphia's active roster less than a week out from training camp, so it looks like he won't face any competition for the job this year. He's coming off a down year by his standards in 2025, when he converted just 74.1 percent of his regular-season field-goal attempts, his lowest rate since the 2020 campaign (73.7 percent).

Grupe is set to compete against Spencer Shrader (knee) for the Colts' kicking job, Paul Bretl of USA Today reports.

Grupe spent the first two-plus years of his NFL career with the Saints but was released in late November after connecting on only 18 of 26 field goals (69.2 percent) across 11 regular-season games in 2025. He got a new opportunity with the Colts and rebounded by making all 11 of his field-goal tries over the final five regular-season games. Even with Shrader working his way back from a torn ACL that he sustained in early October, Grupe will need to have a strong training camp and preseason to hang onto his kicking gig.

McLaughlin is slated to play out the 2026 season on the final year of his current contract, Logan Robinson and River Wells of SI.com report.

McLaughlin suited up for all 17 regular-season games for Tampa Bay last season and set a new career high in made field goals (32), though he also logged a career-low conversion rate on attempts (84.2 percent). After going 11-for-12 on FG tries from 50-plus yards last season, McLaughlin is a solid candidate to bounce back in terms of accuracy in 2026. If he does, he'll be primed to hit the open market in 2027 as one of the league's top available kickers.

Fitzgerald is set to open the 2026 campaign as Carolina's kicker following a standout rookie season, Darin Gantt of the team's official site reports.

After entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent, Fitzgerald won Carolina's kicker job in training camp last year and held the role through the campaign, making 24 of 29 field-goal attempts and 27 of 30 extra-point tries over 17 regular-season games. Even more impressively, he tied for the league lead with four game-winning FGs and ranked third in opponents' average drive start, a measure of his effectiveness on kickoffs. Fitzgerald's rookie season also included two made field goals of 55-plus yards, so he's essentially checked all the boxes. He isn't expected to have any competition for the starting role heading into training camp.

Zvada and Ben Sauls are expected to compete during training camp for the Giants' primary kicker role, Dan Salomone of the team's official site reports.

Sauls emerged as the Giants' kicker down the stretch last season, when he made all eight of his field-goal tries and all seven of his PATs in Weeks 16-18. Meanwhile, Zvada went unselected during April's NFL Draft but signed with New York following a standout college career that included setting a Michigan record with seven field goals of 50-plus yards (on seven attempts) over 13 games in 2024. Zvada was less effective as a senior, but his big leg drew the attention of the Giants, and he'll at least have a chance to push Sauls for the starting job in training camp. It initially looked like it would be a three-man competition, but the Giants cut veteran kicker Jason Sanders -- who has since signed with the Jets -- in early June.

Sauls is set to compete during training camp with undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada for the Giants' kicker job, Dan Salomone of the team's official site reports.

Sauls was the Giants' kicker in Weeks 16-18 and went 8-for-8 on field-goal attempts and 7-for-7 on extra-point tries. He didn't show much of a leg to go with that accuracy, however, as his longest FG last year was from a modest 45 yards. New York parted ways with long-time kicker Graham Gano (neck) in late March, leaving Sauls as the most likely option to begin the 2026 campaign. However, Zvada could challenge for the role with a strong training camp after a decorated college career that included the most field goals (seven) made from 50-plus yards in Michigan history.

Smythe will enter training camp positioned to compete with Tanner Brown for the No. 1 kicker job, Luke Loffredo of USA Today reports.

Smythe started New Orleans' final six games of the 2025 season, going 12-for-16 on field-goal tries and making all 13 of his extra-point attempts. He first joined the Saints back in 2024 as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway. During training camp and the preseason Smythe will work to outperform Brown, who has spent time on various practice squads in the league (most recently the Rams and Falcons in 2024) but has yet to log a regular-season appearance.