{"id":181601,"date":"2026-03-07T02:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T02:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181601\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T02:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T02:40:08","slug":"dolphins-send-clear-message-after-release-of-22-million-all-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/181601\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins Send Clear Message After Release of $22 Million All-Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2257616387-3-e1772848960564.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Miami Dolphins\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Miami Dolphins sent a message after the release of Jason Sanders<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Miami Dolphins\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182080\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Dolphins<\/a> are entering a rebuild. The team has spent the early portion of the offseason shedding players with large salaries. It started with the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/tyreek-hill-release-nfl-news-free-agency\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">release of All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill,<\/a> who was set to carry a $51 million cap hit. <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/bradley-chubb\/\" title=\"Bradley Chubb\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182082\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bradley Chubb<\/a> and Tua Tagovailoa will most likely be post-June 1 releases.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the team released two players who had been members of the Miami Dolphins for considerable time. <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jason-sanders\/\" title=\"Jason Sanders\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182086\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jason Sanders<\/a>, who was Miami\u2019s longest-tenured player, and a former All-Pro selection, was released after he and the team could not come to an agreement on a new contract that would have reduced his salary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sanders suffered a hip injury prior to Miami\u2019s regular season opener, and did not return during the season. After his release, the Dolphins shared a message on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Miami Dolphins Send Message<\/p>\n<p>After announcing his release,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MiamiDolphins\/status\/2030038299515990297\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\"> the Miami Dolphins shared a post with the caption<\/a>, \u201c8 seasons as a Dolphin. Thank you.\u201d The post included a video of his game-winning kick during the 2023 season against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Dallas Cowboys\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182079\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, which clinched a playoff berth for Miami. The video also contained the following Dolphins accolades: franchise all-time leader in field goal percentage, 2nd in franchise history with 187 field goals made, 3rd in franchise history in total points, most field goals in a game in franchise history, and his 2020 first-team All-Pro selection.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders\u2019 preseason injury came at an unfortunate time in his career, as he was fresh off the second-best season of his career. In the 2024 season, Sanders went 12-for-14 on field goal attempts of over 50 yards and missed only four attempts all season. He served as Miami\u2019s primary kicker for seven seasons and made 90% or more of his attempts in three seasons. He departed Miami having made his last 27 field goals, including nine from over 50+ yards.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders was originally drafted with the 229th overall pick in the 2018 <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"NFL\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182081\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> Draft. He replaced kicker <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/cody-parkey\/\" title=\"Cody Parkey\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182084\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cody Parkey<\/a>, who also left the Dolphins after a strong season in which he hit over 90% of his field goal attempts. On that occasion, Parkey left Miami as a free agent after signing a four-year deal in Chicago. After struggling in the regular season, and missing a key postseason field goal, Parkey was released after one season. Sanders will hope for a better outcome with his new team.<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins Ramifications<\/p>\n<p>The releases of Ingold and Sanders create two additional holes on a roster that was already depleted. The team could opt to re-sign Sanders\u2019 2025 replacement, <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/riley-patterson\/\" title=\"Riley Patterson\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182085\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Riley Patterson<\/a>, but<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/flasportsbuzz\/status\/2029987847013281922\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\"> Miami Herald writer Barry Jackson noted<\/a> that the team had not engaged in conversations with Patterson as the team\u2019s priority had been Sanders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the more positive side, the moves should provide the Dolphins some salary cap relief.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/OmarKelly\/status\/2029983424161698043\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\"> Miami Herald writer Omar Kelly posted on X, <\/a>\u201cThe release of Jason Sanders and <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/alec-ingold\/\" title=\"Alec Ingold\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"182083\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alec Ingold<\/a> gets the Dolphins to $5 million in the black as Thursday\u2019s start of the league new year begins. Once Miami cuts Tua and Chubb as June 1 cuts they will gain another $9.1M later this summer. Most of that will be needed to sign the draft class, but the Dolphins basically have about $10M in cap space to work with during free agency. However, keep in mind everyone signed for $1.25M or less a year won\u2019t count against their finances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/joseesquer8000\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/joseesquer8000\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Dolphins\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Miami Dolphins sent a message after the release of Jason Sanders The Miami Dolphins are entering&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-181601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}