The Jets’ kicking room has already turned into a revolving door, and now they’re left with one name standing: Jason Sanders.
New York opened the 2026 season carrying both Sanders and Blake Grupe as kicking options, but that arrangement lasted only a month. On Tuesday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Los Angeles Rams were cutting Harrison Mevis after he went 0-for-2 on field goal attempts in their Monday Night Football shootout against the Buffalo Bills, and they were signing Grupe off the Jets’ practice squad to take his place.
That move leaves the Jets with no other kicking options on the roster besides Sanders. He’s been mostly steady through the first five games of the 2026 season, but that hasn’t exactly erased the nerves for anyone watching when he lines up a kick.
The strange part is that Mevis was part of this same Jets story before he ever got to Los Angeles. He competed with Nick Folk during the 2025 offseason and lost that battle to the veteran. Mevis later signed with the Rams in the middle of last season and held the job until Tuesday.
Grupe never actually kicked for the Jets, but he did give them insurance behind Sanders. New York originally cut Sanders after a rough preseason and claimed Grupe off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts on roster cutdown day. Sanders was then brought back to the practice squad and ultimately became the Jets’ Week 1 kicker.
So far, Sanders has handled the job fairly well. He’s 8-of-9 on field goal attempts, with his only miss coming on a bad shank in Week 1. He’s also made 7-of-8 extra points, with the one miss coming when the game was basically over against the Chicago Bears.
Now that Grupe is headed to Los Angeles, the Jets do have an open practice squad spot and a need for some kind of backup plan behind Sanders. One option would be a reunion with Mevis in Florham Park.
It wouldn’t be a disastrous move. 2026 has not been kind to Mevis, but he closed the 2025 season well, hitting 12-of-13 field goal attempts and drilling a long of 52.
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