By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The path is dead, but that hasn’t stopped the New England Patriots from looking at potential external options, as the team reportedly brought free agent kicker Roberto Aguayo in for a workout Monday, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
It’s a somewhat curious move that’s a little curious given veteran Nick Folk’s success this year — the 36-year-old Folk has made 25 straight field goals and is 25-for-27 on the year overall — but it’s one with a potential eye towards the future, as noted by Reiss.
A second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccanneers in 2016, Aguayo went 22-for-31 (71 percent) in his rookie season, but hasn’t appeared in a regular season NFL game since. (Ironically enough, Aguayo lost his job to Folk and was released by the Bucs during the 2017 preseason, and was featured in HBO’s Hard Knocks series.
Since then, Aguayo has bounced around to the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, and Los Angeles Chargers. Aguayo hit all three of his field goals (a 39-yarder was his longest) and converted on all six of his extra-point tries during his 2018 preseason run with the Chargers, but failed to win the job over veteran Caleb Sturgis.
What’s interesting about Aguayo being a potential future option for the Patriots, of course, is that the team still has 2020 fifth-round pick Justin Rohrwasser on their practice squad roster. Rohrwasser has yet to appear in an NFL game.
Folk, for what it’s worth, is a free agent at the year’s end.
The Patriots will conclude their 2020 campaign with two home games, beginning with a Monday Night Football head-to-head with the Buffalo Bills before a Week 17 finale against the New York Jets.
