Report: Patriots unsuccessfully put in waiver claim on a new kicker
The Patriots tried to nab their new kicker on Wednesday, but were unsuccessful thanks to the league’s waiver priority.
Nov 11, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Chase McLaughlin (5) kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 11, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Chase McLaughlin (5) kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at Levi's Stadium. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The New England Patriots had their sights set on a new kicker, but came up empty thanks to the waiver wire priorities that landed Chase McLaughlin with the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Per Rapsheet, both the Patriots and Buffalo Bills put claims in on the freshly released McLaughlin, but were denied by way of the Colts having a worse record than both teams, at 6-6 compared to Buffalo's 9-3 and the Patriots' 10-2.
The 23-year-old had split this season between the Chargers and 49ers prior to the waiver claim from Indy, converting on 13 of his 17 field goals and making all 15 extra-point tries in seven games. But McLaughlin was especially strong and certainly seemed to open some eyes in his San Francisco run, as he made good on seven of his eight field goal tries (with a long of 50 yards), and went eight for eight on extra points before his release following the clean bill of health for veteran kicker Robbie Gould.
This didn't seem to be the Colts and Bills trying to block the Patriots, either, as Colts kicker (and Patriots legend) Adam Vinatieri has since landed on the injury report with a knee injury, while the Bills' Steven Hauschka has missed five of his last 12 field goal attempts over the last six weeks.
So it's back to the drawing board for the Patriots, who have brought in about a billion different kickers for workouts since Stephen Gostkowski went down with a season-ending hip injury, ahead of Sunday's head-to-head with the Chiefs.
New England's four-man field goal kicking group -- which has featured Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, Nick Folk, and most recently Kai Forbath -- has knocked down 20 of their 26 attempts in 2019, giving the Patriots the league's 18th-best field goal percentage this season, at 77 percent. Their extra-point success is a much different story, however, as the Patriots' 83 percent success rate on extras is the second-worst mark in all of football.
Ty AndersonEditor
Ty Anderson is 98.5 The Sports Hub’s friendly neighborhood straight-edge kid. Ty has been covering the Bruins (and other Boston teams) since 2010, has been a member of the PHWA since 2013, and went left to right across your radio dial and joined The Sports Hub in 2018. Ty also writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to the Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox.
