A $22 million player should be cut by the Miami Dolphins during the offseason.

 

The Miami Dolphins were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card stage of the previous season and thus were unable to end their playoff losing streak. Jason Sanders may be cut this offseason in order to make room on the roster for improvements.

With an 11-6 record throughout the regular season, the Dolphins moved up to second place in the AFC East division, right behind the Buffalo Bills. Due to Miami’s placement in the aforementioned division, the AFC East title was last won by Miami in 2008.

Jan. 13, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA: During the first half of the 2024 AFC wild card game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) converses with head coach Mike McDaniel. Required Credit: USA TODAY Sports/Denny Medley

The Dolphins faced Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win Super Bowl LVIII this year, during the playoffs. Miami lost that specific game by a score of 26-7, which was devastating.

Simultaneously, the Detroit Lions defeated the Los Angeles Rams to move on to the next round. As a result, the Dolphins continued to have the longest current NFL postseason drought.

There are several off-season adjustments that Miami will need to make if they hope to break that streak. Regretfully, one of those actions will need to include kicker Jason Sanders, who was previously signed to a 22 million-dollar contract by the organization.

Jan. 15, 2023; Orchard Park, NY, USA: In the first half of an NFL wild card game at Highmark Stadium, Miami Dolphins place kicker Jason Sanders makes a field goal against the Buffalo Bills. Required Credit: USA TODAY Sports/Gregory Fisher

Sanders is currently one of the few players Miami may let go of throughout the offseason. For further information, see Aaron Schatz’s piece for ESPN:

“While his All-Pro season in 2020 is noteworthy, in the three seasons after, he has only made 80% of his field goals. The Dolphins need to cut players in order to get their cap figure down from approximately $52 million. That entails passing over the obvious choices, including Jerome Baker and Emmanuel Ogbah.

Sanders’s post-June 1 reduction would result in a cap savings of $3.8 million and less than $750,000 in dead money. Then, Schatz said, the Dolphins might locate a kicker who would fetch a far smaller price near the end of the draft or even on the college free agent market.

That reasoning suggests that the Dolphins can improve if Sanders is removed from the picture. By making that move, Miami will be able to keep its main players and add a less expensive kicker. Either way, it will be interesting to watch how the team handles this in the upcoming months.