The Titans trade draft pick to Pats for Nick Folk to try to fix kicker issue
Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel responds to questions from reporters after the team’s NFL preseason football game against the New England Patriots, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are trying a proven veteran in their latest move to fill a big need.
The Titans traded a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the New England Patriots before the NFL’s roster cut deadline for veteran Nick Folk after trying a pair of undrafted free agents during much of the offseason and training camp before turning to a journeyman kicker for the preseason finale.
Folk, 38, still has to pass a physical to finalize the trade the Titans announced Tuesday night after other roster moves. The 6-foot-1, 222-pound Folk has played 211 games over 15 seasons with Dallas, the Jets, Tampa and the Patriots.
He set the NFL record by making 64 consecutive field goals under 50 yards. He set the New England mark with 36 straight field goals made between September 2020 and October 2021. He has made 12 game-winning field goals overall and 82.9% for his career on field goals (353 of 426).
Michael Badgley lasted exactly one game just like his previous stint with Tennessee, though he at least played in the 2021 opener. This time around, he was cut Sunday after the 23-7 win over the Patriots last week. He banked in his first of three made field goals off the left upright and hooked a 39-yarder wide left.
A sixth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame in 2007 by Dallas, Folk made 89.3% of his field goals in 57 games with New England. He was 32 of 37 on field goals last season, including 4 of 5 on kicks 50 yards or longer, and made 32 of 35 extra points.
Folk will have a chance to become the 12th different kicker to try a field goal or extra point for this franchise since 2019 on Sept. 10 in Tennessee’s season opener at New Orleans.
The position of kicker has become a carousel for Tennessee after the job was held for years by the likes of Al Del Greco, Joe Nedney, Rob Bironas and Ryan Succop. Three different kickers played for the Titans last season, Randy Bullock was one of two used in 2021 with Stephen Gostkowski among two in 2020.
Bullock was a salary cap casualty this offseason with Tennessee needing to free up space for free agency.
This franchise’s issues at that position started in 2019 after an injury to Succop. The Titans wound up having five different kickers on the roster that season. Finding a dependable kicker has been quite the challenge for Tennessee.
The NFL also placed second-year running back Hassan Haskins on the commissioner exempt list for an argument during a breakup with a girlfriend that left both arrested in June. The Titans placed Haskins on injured reserve Monday, and he can’t attend games while on the list.
The Titans also kept undrafted rookie Caleb Murphy for now. The outside linebacker led them with four sacks this preseason after setting the NCAA single-season record with 25 1/2 sacks in helping Ferris State win the Division II national title last season.
They placed cornerback Caleb Farley, their 2021 first-round pick, on the physically unable to perform list.
Farley, who was placed on injured reserve in November 2021 with a back injury, lost his father last week when the cornerback’s North Carolina home exploded last week. Officials announced Tuesday it was a gas explosion.
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