Patriots Turn To Third Kicker Of 2019 Following Mike Nugent's Release

After as many misses as games, Mike Nugent's time with the New England Patriots ran out on Tuesday.

New England announced the 37-year-old Ohio State product's release.

Nugent had signed a one-year, $1 million pact in wake of all-time Patriots scoring leader Stephen Gostkowski's placement on injured reserve in early October. And it saw Nugent go 5-of-8 on field goals and 15-of-16 on extra points over four appearances.

The last appearance came in Sunday's win over the Cleveland Browns, when one of Nugent's field goals was blocked from 29 yards away and another sliced hard left from 34 yards away to miss the netting.

New England elected to go for it on fourth down on six occasions during Nugent's month in the fold. Conditions played a factor. As did timing. As did trajectory and distance.

It'll now be Nick Folk's turn to weather the variables.

The Patriots have agreed to terms with Folk, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport first reported as the league's trade deadline passed Tuesday afternoon.

Folk, like Nugent, has been a Dallas Cowboy, a New York Jet and a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. And after spending 2018 without an NFL team, he resurfaced to convert the longest field goal in the brief history of the Alliance of American Football as a member of the Arizona Hotshots.

It went through from 55 yards out.

The 34-year-old Folk originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft choice out of Arizona in 2007. A Pro Bowler he'd be as a rookie while setting the Cowboys' single-season points record for a kicker.

Folk has made good on 80.3% of his attempted field goals dating back to then, and he's also gone 14-of-18 during his visits to Gillette Stadium to face the Patriots.

His most recent NFL game came against the Patriots, as well. But it saw Folk miss all three of his field goals in a 19-14 Buccaneers loss at Raymond James Stadium in the fall of 2017.

That campaign ended on injured reserve for Folk. He'd be released by Tampa Bay the following February.

The list of kickers who've appeared in a game beyond the preseason for New England includes just four since 1996. The list begins with Adam Vinatieri and will soon include Folk as the Patriots prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday night.

The organization will look to stop the spin cycle.

Since Gostkowski's 2019 ended with hip surgery, the Patriots have not only worked out free agents in Nugent and Folk, but also Younghoe Koo, Josh Gable, Matthew Wright, Elliott Fry, Kai Forbath, Blair Walsh, Greg Joseph, Nick Rose, Austin MacGinnis, Giorgio Tavecchio and Austin Rehkow.

And Koo, who'd stop by the New England practice squad earlier this October, was signed to the Atlanta Falcons' 53-man roster on Tuesday.

The Patriots had re-signed Gostkowski to a two-year, $8.5 million deal in April, after the team's kicker since 2006 finished out a four-year, $17.2 million extension with a cap number of $5 million. Gostkowski went 7-of-8 on field goals and 11-of-15 on extra points in September. Rookie punter Jake Bailey, whom the war room traded up to select at No. 163 overall via Stanford, has taken over as New England's kickoff specialist in Gostkowski's absence since then. That should continue.

Though as recent weeks have shown, continuity through the uprights is another department.