The most anti-climatic position battle of all time is already over for the Miami Dolphins
Is this the Miami Dolphins’ most anti-climatic position battle of all time?
Well that was fast. The Miami Dolphins entered this year’s training camp calendar with no shortage of positional battles needed to be sorted out.
That included a melee at wide receiver. A royal rumble at cornerback, plus a heavyweight fight at linebacker. That’s just to name a few! And all of those battles are still raging — although separation is emerging among the candidates. One such battle is officially over, though. A special teams battle has been called before things ever really kicked off. Pun intended…
The Miami Dolphins’ kicking competition is officially off amid Zane Gonzalez’s injured reserve designation
The Miami Dolphins announced on Monday that veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez is being placed on injured reserve. The move, pending an injury settlement and a subsequent release down the road, will end his 2026 season before ever officially putting on a Miami Dolphins uniform. And the news will leave the Dolphins with just one placekicker on the roster — incumbent Riley Patterson.
I’ll be honest. I couldn’t tell you the last time a kicker battle folded up shop before either candidate even made a kick in a preseason contest. Nevertheless, here we are. Head coach Jeff Hafley referred to Gonzalez as “week to week” earlier this week during a press conference.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Gonzalez. The veteran kicker had shared time with new Dolphins special teams coordinator Chris Tabor in the past, too. The duo was in Carolina and Cleveland in the past decade; setting the stage for Gonzalez to potentially be the favorite to win the job. Now, he’ll have to focus on his rehab from an undefined injury that has, for all intents and purposes, handed the kicking job to Patterson. A tough break and an anti-climatic ending to the Dolphins 2026 kicking competition.
Miami Dolphins News