Jets Abruptly Cut Starter; Replace Him With 6-Foot-5 Ex-49ers Vet

Getty Former San Francisco 49ers placekicker Anders Carlson reacting in the middle of an NFL game.

The musical chairs at the kicking position continues for the New York Jets.

On Friday, November 8 the green and white announced that they have cut ties with starting kicker Riley Patterson. In a corresponding move, the Jets announced that they had signed former San Francisco 49ers veteran Anders Carlson.

Carlson is listed at 6-foot-5 and tips the scales at 219 pounds.

These flurry of moves leaves the Jets without a kicker on the active roster. However the Jets do have two kickers on the practice squad with the newly acquired Carlson and Spencer Shrader manning those spots.

Ahead of the Week 10 matchup versus the Arizona Cardinals, the Jets will either temporarily promote Carlson or Shrader to the active roster or sign one of them outright to the 53-man roster.

Jets Land a 1.000 Batting Average Placekicker

Carlson, 26, entered the league in 2023 as the No. 207 overall pick in the sixth round out of Auburn.

Over the last year and a half he had spent time with the Green Bay Packers and the 49ers.

In his 17 games with the Packers last season, Carlson converted 32 of 38 kicks (84% conversion rate). He finished 34 of 39 (87% conversion rate) on his extra point attempts.

This season he was signed by the 49ers as an injury replacement for Jake Moody. In his two games, Carlson was perfect going 5-for-5 on his field goal attempts. He was 4-of-5 on his extra point attempts.

Patterson was the Jets kicker for all of one game. The team inked him ahead of the Week 9 matchup against the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football.

Patterson didn’t attempt a field goal, but he was perfect on his extra point attempts (3-for-3).

Joe Douglas Leaves the Door Open for a Greg Zuerlein Return to the Jets

The Jets have a kicking problem and it has lasted all season. Gang Green was slow to the trigger on making a move and it cost them multiple games this year.

Ahead of Week 9, the Jets placed Greg Zuerlein on injured reserve. That maneuver put him on the shelf for a minimum of four games, but left the door open for him to return at a later point.

“Yeah look I mean Z was coming off of a career year last year and we all still believe in Z. Obviously you know struggled with some of the mechanics, had a little tweak here. I think this is a good opportunity for him to kind of hit the reset button. No one is giving up on Zuerlein coming back here and helping us win games and possibly win a championship. I think this is a great opportunity for him to get right in many ways. He is loved and respected by everyone in this building,” general manager Joe Douglas explained.

In eight games, Zuerlein was 9-of-15 (60% conversion rate) on his field goal attempts this season. He missed an extra pointer as well (13-of-14; 93% conversion rate).

That 60% conversion rate is by far the lowest in the NFL this season and his six misses are also most in the league, per ESPN.

Zuerlein is eligible to return to the Jets ahead of their Week 14 matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, December 8.

Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts Cumulus Media’s morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.