New England will now have their third kicker in three years.
The New England Patriots are set to have a new kicker for the third straight season as veteran Joey Slye has agreed to a free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans, according to NFL Network.
Signed last offseason, Slye went on to beat out fourth-round pick Chad Ryland for the starting job during the offseason. Slye’s big leg was apparent as he set a franchise record with a 63-yard make, but the 28-year old struggled with accuracy throughout the season.
In total, Slye went 26-of-33 on field goal attempts during the year with his 78.8 make percentage ranking 27th among all kickers. Several of his misses came in one-score losses.
Ryland, meanwhile, had a resurgence after latching on with the Arizona Cardinals midseason. Filling in for the injured Matt Prater, the 25-year old connected on 87.5 percent on his attempts which included several game-winning kicks.
Moving forward for New England, just John Parker Romo remains as an option on the current roster. After making 11-of-12 attempts in a four game stint with the Vikings last season, Parker Romo was added to the Patriots practice squad but never appeared in a regular season game. He then signed a futures contract following the year’s end.
The Patriots are expected to add competition for the 27-year old Parker Romo at some point this offseason. In free agency, Nick Folk, Matt Prater, Eddy Pineiro, Michael Badgley, and Austin Seibert remain as the top available options.
New England could also look back to the draft, where Ben Sauls (Pittsburgh), Tyler Loop (Arizona), Andres Borregales (Miami), and Ryan Fitzgerald (Florida State) are among the top ranked prospects. Patriots special team coordinator Jeremy Springer was in attendance at the NFL Combine last month where he met with several kickers.