2 weeks Ago By Kaley Brown
By Kaley Brown Gone are the days of Nick Folk and Stephen Gostkowski. For the third consecutive offseason, the Patriots will be tasked with determining the winner of a kicker competition in 2025. Joey Slye was acceptable for New England last season, finishing the year with a 78.
8 field goal percentage and a 96.2 extra point percentage. He signed with the Titans in free agency last month, leaving the Patriots with a familiar void at the key special teams position.
In speaking with the media on Friday, special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer confirmed that the lone kicker on the roster, John Parker Romo, will compete with another kicker for the starting job this summer. Springer said New England plans to either draft or sign an undrafted free agent to compete with Romo. The ST coach, who head coach Mike Vrabel opted to retain following his hiring earlier this year, explained what he wants his next starting kicker to look like.
“First and foremost, the character part of it is really important,” Springer said. “I don’t want just a kicker. I want a guy that’s gonna be great in the locker room, that can go out and hang out with tight end Hunter Henry, go hang out with Drake Maye and, you know, hang out in the locker room.
Hang out outside of this place. I want a guy’s guy, an athlete, and that’s consistent through college and or the NFL, whether it’s a free agent or it’s a college kid.” During training camp in 2024, the competition came down to Slye and Chad Ryland.
Ryland, who was drafted No. 112 overall in the 2023 NFL draft, was waived by the Patriots at the end of camp in favor of Slye. In 2023, the kicker competition was between Ryland and Nick Folk.
Ryland ultimately won the job following Folk being traded to the Titans in August. It’s a typical situation for most NFL teams who hardly have the advantage of a franchise kicker like New England had in Gostkowski from 2006-19. Even Nick Folk’s tenure between 2019 and 2022 was a unique stability at an often shaky position for other franchises.
It’s hard to imagine Romo or a draft pick later this month will become a Gostkowski. But, if he could become at least a Folk and give the team one less position to figure out during this rebuild, it could help the Patriots in the present and later on by not having to annually draft a kicker. Sign up for Patriots updates🏈 Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during football season.
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