Jets Sign Veteran K Greg Joseph

It looks like the Jets are bringing in some competition for struggling backup kicker Anders Carlson. NFL agent Brett Tessler disclosed that his client, veteran kicker Greg Joseph, has signed a practice squad contract bringing him back to New York, but this time, for the other team that plays in MetLife.

The move is necessary after the team’s regular kicker Greg Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve back at the end of October. The immediate replacement answer at the time was Riley Patterson and Spencer Shrader, but both kickers only got one-week tryouts with the team before moving on.

The last five games have belonged to Carlson. After an initial strong opening in New York, in which he made both field goal attempts, one from beyond 50 yards, and all three extra point attempts, Carlson stumbled in his second contest with the Jets when he missed one of two extra point attempts, his only two kicks of the day. He rebounded strongly the next week, scoring 14 points off four field goals and two extra points, but has struggled since, missing two field goal attempts and one extra point in the last two weeks.

Joesph’s got a pretty average history in the NFL as a kicker, making just 82.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 90.6 of his extra point attempts in his seven-year career. Most of the extra point misses came early in his career. In 2018 and from 2021-22, Joseph 14 of 115 extra point attempts. Since then, he’s gone 52-for-54. He kicked for the Vikings for the last three seasons and has spent time with the Giants and Commanders this season.

Amidst Carlson’s struggles, Joseph’s addition to the practice squad should provide a bit of competition at practice. Either Joseph’s presence will spur Carlson on to better deliverables, or Joseph will outperform the incumbent backup and take over as the main placekicker to close out the season.