There’s a winner in the Patriots’ kicker battle
It looks like Joey Slye has beat out Chad Ryland for the Patriots kicker job.
The Patriots kicker battle has its winner. With roster cuts on Tuesday the team made a decision, going with free agent signing Joey Slye over 2023 fourth-round draft pick Chad Ryland. Ryland was released on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
This move doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the way both players performed this summer. Between live kicking drills in practice and games, Slye always looked like the better option. He hit 43 of his 54 kicks while Ryland went 41-of-54. In particular Slye was better from long range, going 25-of-31 from 40 to 59 yards, while Ryland was 19-of-29 from the same distance.
The Patriots signed Slye this spring after Ryland struggled last year as a rookie. After beating out Nick Folk for the job in camp last summer, Ryland hit 16 of his 25 field goal attempts, including going 10-of-17 on kicks between 30 and 49 yards.
Slye, 28, joined the Patriots after a journeyman career that began as a UDFA out of Virginia Tech in 2018. He’d previously spent time with the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Commanders, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Between all those teams he appeared in 78 games over five seasons, including two years each as the starter in Carolina and Washington. He’s hit on 82.3 percent of his 147 career field goal attempts. Last season in Washington he went 19-of-24 and 32-of-35 on extra points. Slye has also handled kickoffs throughout his career and likely will continue to do so in New England.
Now the question is, are the Patriots done making moves at kicker? It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team keep another kicker on the practice squad in case Slye cools off at some point during the season. The question is, would it be Ryland returning in that role or somebody else?
