The New York Jets' kicking situation feels like the old children's song "The Wheels on the Bus." Round and round we go.
Through the last four months, the Jets have tried out five different kickers and have seen many released after struggles on the practice field. Their most recent change came on the waiver wire, with Blake Grupe being signed to the active roster and former All-Pro Jason Sanders being released to the practice squad.
But it's not like the Jets are completely sold on Grupe, though. Sure, they are expected to give him a chance to earn the starting job over the next few practices, but they have already begun working out other kickers as well. And that list is a who's who of the kicking world.
Justin Tucker, currently the third most accurate kicker in NFL history, worked out for the Jets earlier on Wednesday. He joined other veteran kickers that included Michael Badgley and Josh Karty.
Badgley finished with a 91% success rate last season for the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts. While that may seem solid, he also happens to be very inconsistent from beyond 50 yards out. He just doesn't have the kind of strong leg needed in the modern NFL. Karty, meanwhile, has been kicking in the NFL for two seasons and has a percentage under 80%.
That leaves Tucker. Historically, when a very successful kicker goes through a bad season, it tends to cascade into worse ones later on. Tucker kicked a career-worst 73.3% all year on field goals and is 36 years old. There is no guarantee that he will be back to his All-Pro self. The off-field issues with signing a player with allegations of sexual misconduct doesn't help his case either.
Wednesday's workouts do put New York's kicking problems in bizarre territory. They could have avoided all of this had they just re-signed Nick Folk after an excellent 2025 campaign. Instead, the rotating cast of characters at kicker seems like it will never end.
Of course, all this back-and-forth can change if Grupe is able to take control of the kicking duties.
But this is where the Jets are. Since letting Folk walk, they have tried out nine kickers to see who could earn the role. Nine.
Their search could certainly end with a strong performance in Week 1, but the process by the Jets all offseason has been flawed and has now entered bizarre territory.
Get Jets On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/jets/onsi as Jets Kicker Situation Getting Bizarre as Long List of Workouts Continue .
