Ben Sauls looked like one of the safest kicker bets on the market just a few weeks ago. Now, after the Giants waived him with an injury designation on Sunday, he’s still sitting unsigned while other teams cycle through options.
That’s the strange part. Sauls, 25, had been rock solid for New York.
He closed last season by converting all 15 of his kicks, including eight field goals and seven extra points, and then kept that momentum rolling through the preseason. Even after that, he lost the job to undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada, who won a heated offseason battle for the Giants’ kicking job.
The move ended Sauls’ run in East Rutherford on roster cut day, and it left him free to sign with another team. But no one has jumped yet, and the longer that goes on, the more the undisclosed injury hanging over him starts to look like the explanation.
That uncertainty stands out even more when you look around the league. The Jets are bringing in Jake Karty for a workout on Wednesday after releasing veteran Jason Sanders on Sunday and then re-signing him to the practice squad on Monday. New York had also claimed Blake Grupe off waivers after the Colts cut him on roster cut day, which is how Sanders got squeezed out in the first place.
Baltimore added another name to the mix on Monday, signing veteran Jake Moody to its practice squad. The Ravens already have second-year kicker Tyler Loop, who struggled through the offseason after missing a game-winning field goal try in Week 18 against the Steelers.
So while teams keep poking around at kickers, Sauls is still waiting. And given what he showed with the Giants - perfect last season, perfect in the preseason, and still beaten out by a hotter hand in Zvada - he looks like the kind of player who should already have another shot. The only thing standing in the way may be the injury no one has explained yet.
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Christian Gonzalez Trade Buzz Suddenly Feels Real For The Giants
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