A pair of veteran kickers are hitting free agency. Both Nick Folk and Matt Prater will be 41 before Thanksgiving, but they should generate some interest.
Folk has been the league’s most accurate kicker over the last two years. Prater made all 16 of his kicks last year (in four games) and is the all-time leader in field goals over 50 yards.
Prater was made expendable in Arizona when Chad Ryland emerged. Ryland also fueled Folk’s exit from New England, via a late camp trade in August, 2023.
Both, of course, are nearing the ends of their careers, but there should be some teams that are willing to take the plunge. Folk played well for Mike Vrabel in 2023, and Vrabel is now coaching the Patriots, who’ve struggled at the position the last two years.
Looking at previous seasons, there have been plenty of kickers who’ve been successful in their 40s.
Picking through the last 10 seasons, I see 18 kickers who were 40 and up. Combined they made 95 percent of their extra points and 84 percent of their field goals. Slightly below average on both fronts. Those 40-something kickers averaged 7.0 points per week.
In the 2011-14 seasons, there were six seasons by kickers at least 40 years old. They averaged 134 points, with all of them scoring at last 115.
Landing spot, of course, is key. Plugged into the right spot, Prater or Folk could have a top-5 season left. But with the wrong team, they’ll be looking like undraftable afterthoughts.
In the chart below, kickers in the final seasons of their career are tagged with black dots.
| 40-YEAR-OLD KICKERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Age | XP-A | FG-A | Pts |
| 2015 | Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 43 | 32-35 | 25-27 | 107 |
| 2015 | Matt Bryant, Atl. | 40 | 26-26 | 14-18 | 68 |
| 2015 | Phil Dawson, S.F. | 40 | 20-21 | 24-27 | 92 |
| 2016 | Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 44 | 44-44 | 27-31 | 125 |
| 2016 | Matt Bryant, Atl. | 41 | 56-57 | 34-37 | 158 |
| 2016 | Phil Dawson, S.F. | 41 | 33-34 | 18-21 | 87 |
| 2017 | Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 45 | 22-24 | 29-34 | 109 |
| 2017 | Matt Bryant, Atl. | 42 | 35-35 | 34-39 | 137 |
| 2017 | Phil Dawson, Ari. | 42 | 23-26 | 32-40 | 119 |
| 2018 | • Phil Dawson, Ari. | 43 | 15-15 | 5-8 | 30 |
| 2018 | • Seb. Janikowski, Sea. | 40 | 48-51 | 22-27 | 114 |
| 2018 | Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 46 | 44-47 | 23-27 | 113 |
| 2018 | Matt Bryant, Atl. | 43 | 33-35 | 20-21 | 93 |
| 2019 | • Adam Vinatieri, Ind. | 47 | 22-28 | 17-25 | 73 |
| 2019 | • Matt Bryant, Atl. | 44 | 14-15 | 9-14 | 41 |
| 2022 | • Robbie Gould, S.F. | 40 | 50-51 | 27-32 | 131 |
| 2024 | Matt Prater, Ari. | 40 | 10-10 | 6-6 | 28 |
| 2024 | Nick Folk, Ten. | 40 | 25-25 | 21-22 | 88 |
| Avg | (40-year-olds) | -- | 95.3% | 84.3% | 7.0 PG |
—Ian Allan