The Giants can’t yet announce the addition of Jason Sanders, but they made a different kind of declaration by signing the former All-Pro kicker.
On new head coach John Harbaugh’s watch, the Giants finally are a serious special teams outfit again.
The Giants’ mismanagement of the kicking situation under general manager Joe Schoen, former head coach Brian Daboll and former special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial over the last three seasons was ridiculous.
Loyalty to Graham Gano’s breaking-down body left the Giants without a kicker in two losses (to the Commanders and Chiefs) and led to a missed put-away chip-shot field goal in an improbable loss to the Jets.
Sticking with practice squad call-up Jude McAtamney (on the roster because of an international exemption) while Gano was sidelined last season cost the Giants two points in a season-turning 33-32 loss.
The Giants have used eight kickers over the past three seasons, including then-punter Jamie Gillan when Gano was deemed unavailable at the most inopportune times.
Sanders’ addition, confirmed by The Post, means Gano’s inevitable release for $4.5 million in salary cap savings against a $1.25 million dead-cap penalty. Just like Monday’s addition of All-Pro Jordan Stout as the highest-paid punter in the NFL spelled the end for Gillan after four roller-coaster seasons.
It will be a sad end for Gano, who was on one of the great kicking runs in franchise history from 2020-22.
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Sanders, 30, has made 84.6 percent of his field goals over a seven-year career with the Dolphins. He had arguably his best season in 2024.
But Sanders is just 68.8 percent accurate over 50 yards in a league where even long kicks are becoming gimmes.
Sanders missed all of last season due to a hip injury and was released last week to open up $3.9 million in salary cap space. The Giants also have second-year kicker Ben Sauls, who was impressive in limited action last season, to compete with Sanders.
The special teams overhaul — longtime long snapper Casey Kreiter remains a free agent — isn’t a surprise under Harbaugh, who was a special teams coordinator for the Eagles before his 18-year run as Ravens head coach.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
