The Dolphins Should Clean The Rest Of the Special Teams House
Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
When the Miami Dolphins dismissed former special teams coordinator Danny Crossman at the end of the season, it was the spark Miami needed to get the special teams back on track. They hired Craig Aukerman to take over as coordinator, who has coached in the NFL for 16 seasons. He spent seven of them as a coordinator.
Now, Miami has to go one step further. They must replace kicker Jason Sanders and punter Jake Bailey.
Sanders is a great kicker, no doubt. He is money in the bank. However, he will account for $4.732 million against the salary cap. Bailey, who has struggled with his hang time and his ability to place the ball inside the 20, accounts for $2.525 million in 2025. For a team that has not won a playoff game in 25 years, and missed the playoffs entirely this season, the question becomes whether Miami needs to spend in excess of $7.25 million on two players that can easily be replaced with specialists who are younger and cheaper.
Sanders has won or tied games for the Dolphins in the past. He will go down as perhaps one of the best kickers in team history. However, when a team wins only eight games in a 17-game season, do they really need to spend that much money on a field goal kicker? Miami should invest a relatively high draft pick and get the best kicker coming out of college. Most college kickers that get drafted can hit from 50+ with regularity. Sanders was just the right guy, in the right situation at the right time. He is a dime a dozen, but he costs a dollar. The Dolphins need to find a minimum wage kicker who can carry them for a few seasons.
When Steve Hoffman was the kicking coach for the Dallas Cowboys, they never spent a lot of money on punters or kickers. He would sign the best street free agents and pound the pavement to find them. That is what Aukerman has to do. He needs to turn over every stone and find the best college kicker, or street free agent he can and bring them in to compete.
Last season, Miami had the perfect situation to replace Bailey. He was an unrestricted free agent and was sans contract. Miami should have let him walk. Crossman brought him back into the fold. Miami had the opportunity to work out the “Punt God”, Matt Araiza, who booms punts with regularity and gets significant hang time. He can also hit the coffin corner and place the ball like he is throwing a dart.
However, Crossman did not bring him in for a workout, but the two-time Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs did. They worked him out, signed him and now they are playing for their third straight title in Super Bowl 59. Araiza hit an 80-yard bomb at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium on Wednesday in a closed practice.
The Dolphins even had Kyle Ulbrich from Middle Tennessee State beg for a workout and was in front of the practice facility every morning when Crossman drove to work. They refused to work the kid out. He could have played for the rookie minimum. Perhaps he will get a chance to workout somewhere. Who knows, with the player personnel luck the Dolphins have, Ulbrich will come back and play against the Dolphins and pin them near their own end zone.
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