The New England Patriots have overhauled their roster this offseason and a bulk of the work has come in free agency. Milton Williams, Harold Landry and Carlton Davis are some of the big names who have signed on the dotted line. The Patriots even took a big swing to sign Chris Godwin and have been connected to Stefon Diggs.
The sum of the moves means the Patriots will have a much different look in 2025. But it also opens the door for a reunion opportunity. New England brought back former player Mike Vrabel to be their new head coach at the beginning of the offseason and another familiar name could return to Foxborough after the team’s latest free agent news.
Joey Slye’s Departure Could Help Nick Folk Return To Patriots
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Tennessee Titans are signing kicker Joey Slye. The 28-year-old has spent time with five different teams during his six-year career but spent last year in New England, hitting 26-of-33 field goals (78.8%) and 25-of-26 (96.2%) extra points.
Losing Slye isn’t a massive loss as he ranked 27th and was well below the league average (84%) in field goal percentage last season. But it still leaves a hole for the Patriots at kicker and could lead them back to a familiar face in Nick Folk.
Folk is a 17-year veteran but would be a significant upgrade on special teams. He previously spent four seasons with the Patriots, hitting 89.3% of his field goals and 91.3% of his extra points from the 2019 to 2022 seasons but was traded to the Tennessee Titans at the end of training camp in 2023.
The move benefitted Vrabel in his final year in Tennessee as Folk made a league-high 96.7% of his field goals in 2023. Folk re-signed with the Titans after Vrabel’s dismissal and had a solid encore, hitting 95.5% of his field goals. Nobody has a higher field goal percentage than Folk over the past two seasons and only Cameron Dicker (93.8%) has a higher percentage than Folk’s 91.3% clip since the start of the 2019 season with a minimum of 30 attempts.
After seeing life without Folk, it could be worth the Patriots giving the 40-year-old vet a call. And with $80.8 million in cap space, New England could definitely afford to make a reunion happen.