The Jets’ kicking job looks more like a formality than a true battle as they head into their Week 2 preseason matchup with the Steelers tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
New York talks up competition everywhere this time of year, but this one has a very clear shape. Cade York and Jason Sanders are the two names in the mix to replace Nick Folk, and the gap between them is hard to ignore.
Folk’s 2025 season was nearly flawless. He missed one kick all year and helped the Jets finish with a league-best 96.6% field goal rate, plus a perfect 100% on extra points. Then he left for the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, and the Jets were suddenly back in the market for stability.
Sanders is the obvious favorite. The 30-year-old has been the far more dependable kicker over the course of his career, hitting 84.6% of his field goals and 96.6% of his extra points in 116 regular-season games. York’s numbers tell a much rougher story: 73.3% on field goals and 94.4% on extra points across 23 games.
The contrast showed up again in their most recent seasons. Sanders was excellent in 2024, converting 90.2% of his field goal tries and drilling 12 of 14 from 50 yards and beyond. York, in his latest regular-season action, made just 69.2% of his attempts.
Even with that kind of separation, the Jets have let York keep taking shots at the job. When Aaron Glenn spoke in June about adding Sanders, he said, “Obviously, he (Sanders) did a really good job in Miami.
I said this last time we spoke; any time we can get a good player that can create competition, we want to bring the player in to create that. Those guys (Sanders and York) will battle it out.
I’m sure we’ll see exactly how far this goes, but it’s just creating competition.”
That last part - “seeing exactly how far this goes” - felt like the tell. The Jets may have been calling it a competition, but they seemed to know exactly where the edge was.
So far, the early returns have backed that up. In the preseason opener, York went 2 for 2, but both makes came from short range, from 27 and 38 yards.
The 38-yarder just before halftime came in high and to the right of the upright and looked like it could have been missed, though the officials counted it. Sanders answered with a clean 47-yard make and also converted his lone extra point.
Then came another comparison at camp, where Sanders reportedly separated himself again. Per Jets X-Factor’s Connor Long, Sanders hit 7 of 8 attempts while York finished 5 of 8.
Unless Sanders suddenly falls apart, the Jets appear to have their answer.
That answer would still have to live up to a high bar. Folk’s 2025 run was hard to top, and his long-range work since 2023 has been ridiculous - 18 of 20 from 50-plus yards, a 90.0% clip.
Sanders has his own strong résumé there, though, and that’s part of what makes him so appealing. Since 2023, he has made 17 of 21 attempts from 50 yards or more, good for an 81.0% rate and sixth-best among kickers with at least 20 such tries in that span.
Sanders has already shown elite form before, too. In 2020, he earned first-team All-Pro honors after making 92.3% of his field goals, including 8 of 9 from 50-plus.
If he’s healthy after missing the entire 2025 season with a hip injury, the Jets would still be getting a kicker who should be only a small step down from Folk. And if that’s the outcome, New York would be in pretty good shape at one of the league’s most unforgiving positions.
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