Dolphins cut kicker Riley Patterson, bring back Zane Gonzalez

Miami Dolphins admin October 20, 2026 0 Comments

Dolphins cut kicker Riley Patterson, bring back Zane Gonzalez

The Miami Dolphins have made a change in the special teams department.

Kicker Riley Patterson was released following the Week 6 bye, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. The Dolphins subsequently signed kicker Zane Gonzalez, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

This comes a little bit more than a week after Patterson not only let up on an 81-yard kick return to start the Week 5 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals but later missed a point-after-try. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley mentioned that he would explore changes during the bye, and it would appear that he decided a shake-up in special teams was necessary.

“We’re counting on those veteran players to do their job to the best of their ability,” Hafley said when asked about the veterans’ special teams mistakes. “Whether it’s in the punt game, whether it’s making our PATs and our extra points, whether it’s kicking the ball, whether it’s we’re trying to kick a touchback or we’re trying to kick the ball deep left, just like any other position, we’re counting on those veterans to do their job and do them at a high level. That’s what they’re here for.”

Special teams have been arguably the Dolphins’ worst unit. Miami has committed at least one blunder a game, something that might not all fall on Patterson, but he certainly was a contributor. The kicker made seven of his nine field-goal attempts with the two misses coming from 41 and 51 yards. He was also 5 for 6 on PATs.

Gonzalez returns to Miami after he initially signed in March as he and Patterson were engaged in a training camp battle for the starting place kicker job. Unfortunately, Gonzalez would suffer an unknown injury and the Dolphins cut him in mid-August.

An eight-year veteran, Gonzalez played for five teams — the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons — prior to joining the Dolphins. He has a career field goal percentage of 81%. That figure drops to roughly 72% on field goals of 40 yards or more.

Gonzalez is 18 of 28 from 50 yards plus on field goals, and 52.5% of his kickoffs have been touchbacks.. Patterson is 7 for 14 and 36.3%

Gonzalez has also hit 95.3% of his PATs with only eight misses.

Hopefully, the Dolphins can limit their special teams mistakes with Gonzalez at the helm.

This story was originally published October 20, 2026 at 1:35 PM with the headline “Dolphins cut kicker Riley Patterson, bring back Zane Gonzalez.”