In a little bit of a surprise, the Jets didn’t re-sign placekicker Nick Folk, who made 28 of 29 field goal attempts last season.
The two sides could not come together on a contract, so Folk took his services south, signing a two-year deal for $9 million with Atlanta in March.
In the spring, Jets special teams coordinator Chris Banjo was asked about losing Folk.
“I think any time anybody loses a good player, that’s always tough, but the big thing now that we’re excited about is who we have in the building now,” Banjo said.
They have two veteran kickers in the building, Cade York and Jason Sanders.
York has made stops in Cleveland, Washington, and Cincinnati, making 73.3 percent of his field-goal attempts.
Sanders spent his first eight years in the league kicking for the Miami Dolphins, where he made 84.6 percent of his kicks. He missed all of last season with a hip injury. He was briefly with the Giants this off-season, but was released in June and signed with the Jets.
“They’re both consistently competitive, just in their approach, their process,” Banjo said about York and Sanders. “They’re very, very resilient in regards to things that may go good or may not go good – one snap and clear and they’re onto the next thing.”
These two will compete for the job in Jets camp, and may the best man win.
“(We) look forward to those guys putting their best foot forward and just competing,” Banjo said.
This is one of those competitions where the runner-up will likely end up kicking for another team.
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