Chandler Catanzaro ended his second New York Jets tenure prematurely after missing his first two extra points in Thursday’s game.
The New York Jets announced the retirement of kicker Chandler Catanzaro on Sunday morning. New York also revealed they signed Taylor Bertolet to take over the role.
K Chandler Catanzaro has retired and we've signed K Taylor Bertolet.
? https://t.co/YQW2L29JwS pic.twitter.com/XvozM970wF
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 11, 2019
Catanzaro, 28, was set to begin his second Jets term in 2019. He successfully converted 25-of-30 attempts two seasons prior. Last season was spent in Tampa Bay and Carolina before the Jets brought him back this offseason in an attempt to replace Seattle-bound Pro Bowler Jason Myers.
The Clemson alum ends his career with 119 field goals on 142 attempts (83.8%). His best season came in 2015 with the Arizona Cardinals when he posted a 90.3% conversion rate (28-of-31) and tallied 137 points. Both were career-bests and the latter was good for third in the NFL.
His most famous Jets kick likely came in an October 2017 win over the future AFC finalists from Jacksonville. Catanzaro kicked the game-winning field goal from 41 yards out with 28 seconds left.
Catanzaro had struggled in training camp and those struggles were on full display in Thursday’s preseason loss to the New York Giants. He missed his first two extra points and narrowly converted a 34-yard attempt in the 31-22 defeat. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News later reported that the Jets brought in a group of kickers to potentially replace Catanzaro. Among that group was former All-Pro Blair Walsh.
For now, the Jets will turn to Bertolet for their kicking duties. The 26-year-old spent last summer with the Jets but was released after the emergence of Myers. He was successful in four preseason attempts, the longest being a 45-yard triple in a win over Atlanta.
Bertolet has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game, but recently served as the kicker for the Salt Lake Stallions of the defunct Alliance of American Football. He went 9-of-14, with one of those conversions being the second-longest field goal in the AAF’s brief history (54 yards).
The Jets return to preseason action this Thursday night in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. ET, WCBS).
