Among Bill Belichick’s mistakes late in his tenure with the Patriots, high on the list would be the decision to give up on Nick Folk. That one has haunted them at the kicker position.
Since the Patriots dished him off for a late-round pick, Folk in two seasons has made 96 percent of his field goals, far better than any other kicker. The Patriots, on the other hand, have made only 72 percent of their field goals post-Folk, by far the worst of any team.
| FIELD GOAL ACCURACY (last 2 yrs) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FG | FGA | Pct |
| Nick Folk, Ten. | 50 | 52 | 96.2 |
| Chase McLaughlin, T.B. | 59 | 63 | 93.7 |
| Cameron Dicker, LAC | 70 | 75 | 93.3 |
| Chris Boswell, Pitt. | 70 | 75 | 93.3 |
| Ka'imi Fairbairn, Hou. | 63 | 70 | 90.0 |
| Harrison Butker, K.C. | 54 | 60 | 90.0 |
| Wil Lutz, Den. | 61 | 68 | 89.7 |
| Brandon Aubrey, Dall. | 76 | 85 | 89.4 |
| Cairo Santos, Chi. | 56 | 63 | 88.9 |
| Jason Sanders, Mia. | 61 | 69 | 88.4 |
| Brandon McManus, Jac.-G.B. | 50 | 58 | 86.2 |
| Daniel Carlson, L.V. | 60 | 70 | 85.7 |
| Eddy Pineiro, Car | 47 | 55 | 85.5 |
| Jake Elliott, Phil. | 58 | 68 | 85.3 |
| Jason Myers, Sea. | 61 | 72 | 84.7 |
| Blake Grupe, N.O. | 57 | 68 | 83.8 |
| Anders Carlson, 3 tms | 40 | 48 | 83.3 |
| Greg Zuerlein, NYJ | 44 | 53 | 83.0 |
| Tyler Bass, Buff. | 48 | 58 | 82.8 |
| Matt Gay, Ind. | 64 | 78 | 82.1 |
| Dustin Hopkins, Cle. | 51 | 63 | 81.0 |
| Justin Tucker, Balt. | 54 | 67 | 80.6 |
| Younghoe Koo, Atl. | 57 | 71 | 80.3 |
| Greg Joseph, 4 tms | 40 | 50 | 80.0 |
| Evan McPherson, Cin. | 42 | 53 | 79.2 |
| • Joey Slye, Was.-N.E. | 45 | 57 | 78.9 |
| • Chad Ryland, N.E.-Ari. | 44 | 57 | 77.2 |
| Jake Moody, S.F. | 45 | 59 | 76.3 |
| New England | 42 | 58 | 72.4 |
Folk was solid during his three seasons under Belichick, converting 89 percent of his field goals. He went 32 of 37 in the 2022 season (albeit with a pair of missed extra points in Week 16 that cost me a playoff game – had he made either of those, my franchise would have captured Krohn Bowl XXXVII).
Folk dipped some in the 2022 season and is getting older (he’s 40 now), so the Patriots used an early draft pick on Chad Ryland. He was a disaster for them, making only 16 of 25 field goals. New England cut him loose, and Ryland looked more like an NFL-caliber kicker in a partial season for the Cardinals, making 28 of 32 kicks.
The Patriots, meanwhile, are still looking to figure out the position. They went with former Washington kicker Joey Slye last year, and he wasn’t good enough either, making only 26 of 33 field goals.
New England no doubt will be mulling kicking options in the offseason.
While Folk has been accurate, he’ll probably be a below-average scorer in 2025, with the Titans trying to cobble together a decent offense around him. But at least he’s reliable making his kicks.
—Ian Allan