Dominic Zvada, NFL: New York Giants at Miami Dolphins
Dominic Zvada, NFL: New York Giants at Miami Dolphins
Dominic Zvada drilled both of his field-goal attempts in the Giants’ 26-3 preseason win over Miami on Saturday, extending a summer that has turned an open kicking competition into a near-formality. The undrafted rookie from Michigan has separated himself from Ben Sauls with two weeks left before roster cuts.
New York went into the offseason without an obvious answer at kicker and, according to NorthJersey’s Art Stapleton, now has one who has passed every test put in front of him. Zvada is 65-of-69 on field goals this summer and is positioned to edge Sauls, who could land on the practice squad.
The camp résumé keeps growing
Dominic Zvada, New York Giants kicker Dominic Zvada (34) warms up before a preseason opening game between the New York Giants and Minnesota
Credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Zvada connected on 65 of 69 attempts across camp and the preseason, a 94.2 percent clip that includes his two makes against the Dolphins, per Stapleton’s roster projection. He added the kind of highlight that ends debates on Aug. 12, when teammates lobbied John Harbaugh to let him try a walk-off kick, and he drilled a 62-yard “game-winner” to close practice. The leg has never been in question, and the accuracy has held up in the wind at Quest Diagnostics Training Center that gave other kickers trouble.
Zvada converted 21 of 22 field goals in 2024 at Michigan, a program-record 95.5 percent that earned him All-American honors and Big Ten Kicker of the Year, and he finished his college career at 82.8 percent over four seasons. He arrived in New York as an undrafted free agent and has kicked like a player the Giants can build around for the next decade.
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Stage Field goals Accuracy
Michigan (2024) 21-of-22 95.5%
College career (4 seasons) n/a 82.8%
Giants summer (2026) 65-of-69 94.2%
The room cleared out ahead of him
The Giants set this competition in motion in March, releasing veteran Graham Gano after six seasons and saving roughly $4.5 million in cap space, per multiple reports. Gano was limited to six games in 2025 before a neck injury landed him on injured reserve, and the release opened a job the front office spent the offseason trying to fill. New York signed veteran Jason Sanders to compete, then cut him after he struggled in the wind during camp, narrowing the race to Zvada and Sauls.
Giants, Ben Sauls, Dominic Zvada
Credit: Credits: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images, Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Sauls has kicked well enough to stick around, but the reporting out of camp has been consistent that Zvada holds the edge in both accuracy and range. The practice squad gives the Giants a way to keep Sauls in the building as insurance without carrying two kickers on the active roster. Harbaugh has stopped short of naming a winner publicly, though the usage and the numbers point in one direction.
The economics make the call easy
Zvada carries an undrafted rookie’s minimum salary, which means the Giants would get their most accurate camp leg at the cheapest possible price after already banking Gano’s savings. That is the rare special-teams decision that improves the roster and the cap sheet at once, and it lets the front office spend its remaining resources on the defensive line and secondary questions that still linger. Jordan Stout returns as the punter and Ben Mann handles the long snapping, giving New York continuity around a rookie kicker who has earned the staff’s trust.
The job is Zvada’s to lose
Barring a collapse in Friday’s finale against the Jets, the Giants will open the season with an undrafted rookie handling their field goals, and the summer suggests that is a strength rather than a gamble. Zvada has been the most reliable kicker on the roster since the spring, and the Giants look ready to hand him the job he has spent all camp earning.