Unless you have built up an astronomical amount of goodwill thanks to continued success on the field, there is no easier way to be booed by your own fan base than to use a draft pick on a specialist.
The New England Patriots may be seeing that play out for them in real-time as head coach Mike Vrabel and the coaching staff are officially on the clock to trim their training camp roster down to 53 players ahead of Tuesday's deadline.
Following New England's lopsided 42-10 loss to the New York Giants on Thursday night in their preseason finale, Vrabel met with the media and singled out sixth-round pick Andy Borregales for his inconsistency during the Patriots' three exhibition games, according to Mark Danies of MassLive.
Mike Vrabel on Andy Borregales: "We expect to make those kicks. We have to see how this thing plays out."
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 22, 2025
Adds the Patriots have two kickers they like
Patriots May Already Be Regretting Borregales Pick After Preseason Flub
New England selected the former University of Miami (FL) kicker with the No. 183 overall pick in this year's draft. Just to show how rare it is for an NFL team to use a draft pick on a kicker, there have only been 12 other occurrences of this going back to 2020.
Given the way Borregales has performed so far, it isn't surprising to hear Vrabel is frustrated with the inconsistency, as the rookie only connected on three of his five attempts during the preseason. The reference to a second kicker in camp that they like, former Virginia Tech kicker John Parker Romo, isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Borregales, either.
This subpar play during the preseason puts New England in a tough position. If they cut Borregales, they essentially wasted a draft pick, which will only lead to more scrutiny from those who were not pleased with the selection to begin with.
On the other hand, if they keep Borregales for that reason alone and he continues to struggle, the impact it could have on the Patriots' overall record would open the door to even more criticism.
This isn't exactly a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario for Vrabel. It is definitely a situation that New England's brain trust needs to figure out sooner rather than later, though.